Blue Mountains
by LemonStar
Summary: ..Daryl/Beth.. AU - no zombies. Follow-up to "Fight to Win". Family and fluff. If Beth hadn't mentioned her dreams of a spring wedding, she knew she and Daryl would be married already. And him wanting to give her what she wanted just made her love him all the more.
1. Thanksgiving

**A story in three parts. Thanksgiving, Christmas and Springtime. I really love creating/writing Daryl's family.**

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 **Part One.** Thanksgiving.

"Mama! They're here!" Annie Berry shouted as she was already running outside, the screen door slapping shut behind her, and she ran barefoot through the dirt despite the chill in the air and threw herself against her older cousin just as he got out from the pickup truck he had stopped in front of the house. She had been standing at the front door for what felt like hours now, keeping a lookout for their arrival.

"Oof!" Daryl Dixon grunted as the fourteen-year-old slammed against him. It took him a moment to catch his footing and then he smirked a little, hugging her in return. "Damn girl. Let me breathe a lil'," he said.

Annie pulled back and frowned fiercely at him. "What took you so long? You were supposed to be here _ages_ ago."

Daryl just smirked again. "I'm marryin' a girl who doesn' have a bladder. We had to stop a few times," he told her, ruffling her hair even though he knew she hated it and when she jerked her head away and glared up at him, Daryl just kept smirking.

"You drank just as much coffee as I did, Daryl Dixon," Beth Greene said, coming around from the other side of the truck and doing her best to frown at him but the corners of her mouth were twitching upwards despite her best efforts.

Annie came skipping to her next and the two embraced in a tight hug. Annie loved Beth and was so happy Daryl was marrying her. She couldn't wait for the wedding in just a few months – in the spring down in Georgia where they lived – and Daryl had already said that the whole family was invited. Beth was so nice and she was the prettiest girl Annie had ever seen who wasn't a movie star. And probably prettier than most who were.

The front door opened and Clementine Berry stepped out, her youngest in her arms. Anne Sparrow-Knox had had six children and Clementine was the youngest of her brood. She had married Bill Berry and they had four children themselves and they all lived here in the old Sparrow house with Anne. The Sparrow family was a big family with too many cousins and great aunts and uncles to count and Daryl was still trying to keep them all straight. He had only met most of them just a few months earlier for the first time and had visited a couple of times since but it was always overwhelming for him. He had gone through most of his life thinking he didn't have anyone in the world and not only did he now have Beth but he now had all of them.

"Anne Berry. You get your butt up here," Clementine ordered. "No lick of sense in you, runnin' out like that in your bare feet. Let your cousin catch his breath 'fore you start pesterin' 'im."

"Mama," Annie whined as she usually did but obeyed and returned to the porch.

Daryl liked Clementine. She was his cousin closest to him in age and his Aunt Anne had already said that if his Grandma Liv had gotten around to bringing him up here back to Kentucky to live like she had planned, Daryl and Clementine would have been raised together. Clementine was a no-nonsense woman and he supposed she had to be, running the house and in charge of her kids and taking care of her elderly mom while her husband went off every day to work at his job as a groundskeeper for a nearby cemetery. It didn't bring home nearly enough money but Bill Berry was one of the lucky ones to actually have a job.

He grabbed both his and Beth's bags and Beth had already reached the porch, Clementine smiling as they embraced, and then Beth eagerly took the baby from her arms into her own. Daryl stepped onto the porch and set the bags down and he and Clementine hugged in greeting.

He supposed he was also getting used to hugs. He had gone through so much of his life never being touched except for punches, and now, he had Beth – who had to damn well be the most affectionate girl in the world – and this family who seemed to be hugging him every few seconds.

"Mama's been askin' 'bout you all day. We were expectin' you a while ago," Clementine said once they broke apart.

She had the classic Sparrow look that many of the women in the family had. Strawberry blonde hair and freckles and pale skin. Most of the men were dark-haired and tanned like Great Grandpa Sparrow had been but a few of them had the strawberry blonde, too. He had had light hair, himself, when he was a little kid but it had eventually darkened out. Sometimes, Daryl caught himself wondering what their kid would look like if he and Beth were to have one.

"I'm sorry," Beth spoke up. "I had to make Daryl stop a few times on the way up. I really don't have a bladder."

"Don't be sorry. We just were beginnin' to worry you were rolled in a ditch somewhere," Clementine smiled. "You best get inside," she said to Daryl.

He nodded and felt a little nervous as he had the other times he had gone inside. He didn't know what it meant to have a family. Once Grandma Liv had died, he had never had anything close to one and his time with his grandma had been so short and so long ago, it wasn't as if he had been able to get used to it. Each time he came up to Clay County and stepped into this house, everyone was so happy to see him. They didn't even know him. All they did know was that he was one of them and maybe that was all that really had to be known.

Inside, there seemed to already be a full house, some helping in the kitchen, others sitting in the living room, watching a _Duck Dynasty_ Thanksgiving marathon on TV.

"Daryl's here!" Annie called out, eagerly rushing into the house.

And then he and Beth were both surrounded. He remembered pretty much everyone's names. He just had a hard time remembering exactly how they were all related. Great Grandpa and Great Grandma Sparrow had had a lot of kids and then their kids had had a lot of kids and on and on and it was a safe bet if Daryl just assumed that someone was his cousin. It made him wonder though why his Grandpa Chris and Grandma Liv had only had one child.

"Daryl and Beth Dixon, you get your asses over here!" Anne called out from where she was standing at the stove.

Someone plucked the baby from Beth's arms so she could hurry over to hug Daryl's great aunt, the woman squeezing her tightly and kissing her cheek. She had been reminded by more than one person that Daryl and Beth weren't married yet but Anne could have cared less about technicalities like that. Beth had a ring on her finger and they had a date set and she would be officially Beth Dixon soon enough.

"How dare you keep me waitin' all day. This could be my last Thanksgiving," Anne frowned at them both before pulling Daryl into an equally tight hug.

"Don't say that, Aunt Anne," Beth said.

"She'll say it at Christmas, too," one of Daryl's cousins piped out. It sounded like Roy.

"I found somethin' and I want to show it to you," Anne said, clasping one of Daryl's hands between both of hers. "You, too, Beth," she said and then snatched one of Beth's hands, tugging them both towards the kitchen door.

"Oh, I was going to help Clementine…" Beth trailed off uselessly as Anne continued pulling them and for being as old as she was, she sure still had her strength.

"I'm comin', too!" Annie exclaimed and then hurried after them before anyone could stop her and make her help in the kitchen.

Now that Daryl was here, Annie was probably never going to leave his side until he left again. There was something she saw in her older cousin that made her quite attached to him. It didn't matter that he was forty and she was just fourteen. And it wasn't because he was "new" in the family, either. Her grandma had once said that some people, you just meet in life and you click immediately with them. Sometimes, two people meet and it makes sense and it's as easy as that. Annie liked to think that meeting her cousin, it _was_ as easy as that. It certainly felt like it was.

Anne lived in a small back bedroom with a twin bed against one wall and she shared the room with Annie, her own twin bed against the opposite wall. She pointed a crooked finger towards the closet.

"Annie, top shelf. That box," Anne said but as Annie went to go fetch it, Daryl beat her to it, easily stretching his arm out and taking the old shoe-box down from the shelf, turning and handing it to his aunt. He wasn't surprised when she lifted the lid and there were pictures inside.

There were two Sparrow children left – Anne and the youngest, Jeremiah. All of the other brothers and sisters of Grandma Liv had passed on. And Anne was the family historian. She was the one with all of the pictures and all of the stories. She had already given Daryl plenty of pictures – mainly of his mom and Grandma Liv when they were both so much younger and Will Dixon hadn't entered their lives yet. The original Sparrow family had been too poor for a camera so there were hardly any pictures of Anne or the others of when they were children and there were no pictures of Great Grandma and Grandpa Sparrow.

"Thought you might like this one," Anne smiled after sifting for a moment and pulling out a 4x6 colored picture though it had faded in time and now looked to be in all shades of yellows and oranges. "Found it stuck to another picture and I lost track of it or I would have given it to you last time you were here."

Daryl took the picture and Beth leaned in to look at it as well. He didn't say anything as he looked down at a ten-year-old Merle holding his newborn baby brother in his arms. He recognized him sitting in the worn recliner that had been in their living room and Merle was actually smiling which made Daryl think that the picture had been taken when Will hadn't been around.

"Liv was so happy when you came," Anne said and Daryl didn't stop looking down at the picture. There really had been a time when Merle had actually been a kid with buzzed light brown hair and a nose that hadn't been broken yet. "She loved Merle but she knew that Merle was already getting to be too wild and she and your mama couldn't control him. She wrote to me that when she babysat your older brother, afterwards she felt as gray as a catbird."

Daryl smirked at that and he could imagine his grandma perfectly saying that. And he could imagine a little Merle being a hellion. He always had been.

"When you were born, she was scared because of your father but she could tell that you were going to be a sweet boy. You were such a good baby. Hardly ever cried. Or so she said," Anne teased with a faint sparkle in her eyes.

"Thank you," Daryl said softly and finally lifted his eyes to look at Beth as she looked at the picture with a faint smile on her face. Even after all of this time, he still got so damn sad whenever he thought of his brother.

He missed that asshole every single day.

"Is Merle buried where your grandparents and mama are?" Annie asked then.

Daryl shook his head and cleared his throat. "Nah. Didn' have money for a coffin or burial or anythin' like that. County took him after he died. They just burn those bodies up. Took his ashes and scattered 'em in the woods."

He cleared his throat again and he felt Beth leaning into him, her arm sliding around his waist as if she was trying to hold him up; as if knowing that she needed to.

"Come on now," Anne broke the heavy mood and lifted a hand, patting Daryl on the cheek like she did with everyone in the family. "None of this. It's Thanksgiving and Daryl and Beth are here with us today and it's a happy day."

They all smiled at that and Anne and Annie left the bedroom, leaving to return to the kitchen and leaving Beth and Daryl alone for a moment.

"We need to buy a frame once we get home," Beth said and he nodded. "You're getting quite a collection going on the mantel," she then said with a smile.

He smiled a little, too, and slid the picture into the back pocket of his jeans. "Yeah…" he said and his voice trailed off because he wasn't too sure what else to say.

But Beth was more than used to that and she smiled, lifting herself up on her toes so her face was more level with his and Daryl slid his arms around her, holding her closet to him. And when she placed herself back down on her feet, he didn't let her go and instead, he bent into her, keeping their faces close together.

"Maybe you can ask one of your cousins to be your best man," Beth suggested then and she had tried to discuss this before.

He had considered Rick, Shawn and Glenn. Even T-Dog. But he didn't know if he could ask any of them; if they were close enough for him to want them to be his best man when he got married. He wished he didn't need one at all but Beth was having Maggie stand up with her and he couldn't have it unbalanced like that – even if Beth hadn't exactly said that he needed to have a best man.

"Nah," he shook his head. "I keep screwin' up their names, still. Be a lil' awkward askin' someone for somethin' like that if I can't even get their name right to do it."

She giggled at that and he smirked before closing the space between them and pressing his lips to hers. Beth eagerly pressed her lips back to his and he could feel them beginning to twitch. She did that often – smile when he kissed her. And sometimes, it made him smile, too, and sometimes, their teeth would clack together and it would make them smile wider and laugh and Daryl never would have thought that kissing a girl could be so much damn fun.

They both heard giggling from the doorway and their lips parted, heads turning to see who it was. There was a baby there, around a year old, wearing a diaper and a tee-shirt and his blanket over his shoulder. Beside him, there was another boy – this one around three, a bottle in his hands and his lips curved in a smile around the rubber nipple in his mouth.

Daryl knew the baby was Albie – son of his cousin, Al. The man had three older daughters and had been eager to finally have a son and immediately gave him his name – which was actually confusing because he had a daughter named Allison and everyone called her Al, too. The other boy, the toddler, was RJ – named after his dad, Russ, and his grandpa, Rusty, and his great-grandpa Rusty who had been one of Grandma Liv's brothers.

RJ pulled the bottle from his mouth. "You're kissin'!" He giggled and Daryl felt his ears turn red as if he wasn't a forty-year-old man.

"Yes, we are," Beth just smiled though. She left Daryl to go and hoist Albie in her arms and then smiled down at RJ. "Let's go help in the kitchen. The more we help, the faster we can all eat," she said as they all left the bedroom and Daryl followed.

As Beth went into the kitchen to join the others there to help with food preparations, it seemed like almost immediately, the talks turned to those of the wedding plans she had made so far.

"I have my dress already," Beth said. "It was my mama's and I'm a bit smaller than she was so I took it to a tailor in town and she's helping fit it and making a few other small changes to it. As long as with the holidays, I don't gain that much weight from now until May-"

"Child, every time I see you, I'm always worried one of these strong mountain winds are going to carry you right away and we'll have to pull you down from a tree!" One of the woman cousins teased and they all laughed.

"And what about you, Daryl?" Clementine asked, looking to him as he stood in the doorway and Annie sneaked them both a couple of the rolls cooling on the stove before her mama could slap her hand away. "You gonna be wearin' a tuxedo?"

"Jus' a suit," he answered.

"Paul wore a tuxedo for our weddin'," another of his cousins said. "You 'member that? It was that powder blue and he looked so awful."

"I looked damn good, woman!" Paul yelled from the living room, having overheard, and his wife just looked at the other women and shook her head and they all laughed and Daryl followed Annie as she left and headed into the living room.

"No weddin' talk in here, Daryl," Russ said, RJ now sitting in his daddy's lap, and Daryl's lips twitched in a little smile as he sat down on the couch in the spot Russ had made for him and Annie to sit down in.

It wasn't as if he minded talking about the wedding. Mainly because Beth didn't do that much talking about it. They had been planning on something small but with the invites going out to his family – and they learned just how large it was – it wasn't going to be that small after all but even then, Beth didn't seem to be panicking that much. They were getting married in her family's church and then the reception would be at the Greene farm and with Daryl's job at GE and an early wedding present from Hershel, they had money for food and flowers because Beth admitted that she wanted flowers more than anything at their wedding.

They watched two more episodes of _Duck Dynasty_ before Aunt Anne came in and with her fists on her hips, she ordered all of their lazy asses to get up and help get the tables together since dinner was just about done.

The house was small so they had to do some arranging, bringing the dining room table and the kitchen table out in the living room, pushing the couch and recliners out of the way and there was no room to line them up in a row so they had to set them down beside one another. And then they helped the women carry all of the food from the kitchen to set it out on the tables as the kids helped place plates and silverware. There was a turkey as well as a couple of ducks that they had hunted, mashed potatoes and gravy, homemade stuffing, fresh green beans and rolls.

Anne sat at the head of one of the tables and she made sure Daryl was sitting right next to her. Beth settled into the seat on his other side and Annie sat next to Beth. Daryl looked at everyone sitting at both tables and the food spread out in front of him and he had never had a Thanksgiving before. Not like this. There had been small turkey dinners with his Grandma and mom on this day when he was little but then his mom died and Grandma Liv died shortly after that and after that, there were never any holidays in his life ever again.

Was he going to have Thanksgiving every year? Here, like this, with his family?

"Let's pray," Aunt Anne said, holding out her hands and Daryl was slow to take it as Beth slid her hand into his other and everyone held hands. "Thank you, Lord, for providing us with such a bounty today, for keeping everyone in our family healthy, happy and safe and for finally bringing our Daryl back home to us. Amen."

"Amen," everyone echoed and Daryl felt the breath catch in his throat.

Anne squeezed his hand and then handed Bill, who sat on the other side of her, the plate of rolls and Beth still held his other hand, giving it a squeeze. He turned his head and looked at her and she gave him a smile and he squeezed her hand back. She leaned in and gave him a soft kiss on his cheek.

The meal was long and loud with everyone laughing and talking and Daryl didn't talk – just ate and listened to everyone around him. Annie was telling Beth that she had a pretty white dress to wear to the wedding in the spring and Clementine told her that she couldn't wear white to a wedding; the bride was the only who could, and Annie frowned at that before Beth told her that maybe they could figure something out so she could wear white, too.

"I'm not gettin' married, too, just so I can wear my white dress," Annie huffed and they all laughed at that.

When the pumpkin and pecan pies were brought out for dessert, everyone groaned and said they were stuffed to the gills but no one seemed to have any problem eating at least one slice. And after that, they all helped clear away the dishes and the men set the tables back to where they went and arranged the living room once more and then the kitchen was crowded as they began the large task of washing everything.

There was a football game on now, too, but some began to leave, heading home for the night though leaving took a while because they had to say goodbye to everyone.

It was late when it was finally just Aunt Anne, Clementine and Bill with their kids, and Beth and Daryl. They would be staying the night and the next day before heading back to Georgia on Saturday.

"'s not the most comfortable thing in the world," Bill said as he got the bed in the pull-out couch ready for them.

"After that meal, I think I can sleep anywhere tonight," Beth smiled as she took the extra blankets that their oldest daughter, Natalie, handed her.

"Thanks for everythin'," Daryl said to Clementine.

She just shook her head and stood on her toes, giving him a hug. "Sleep well, you two. Bill and mama are early risers but they'll try not to wake you."

"We wake up early, too," Beth assured them, looking to Bill. "You don't have to tiptoe around us in your own home."

"And jus' somethin' to keep in mind… this couch squeaks," Bill said and Clementine smacked his arm and Daryl felt the back of his neck flush.

Anne was the last to leave as the rest went to their rooms and she first hugged Beth, wishing her a good night, and then went to Daryl, hugging him tight.

"I'm almost scared that when I wake up tomorrow, you won't really be here," she confessed to him, tears glassing in her eyes.

Daryl swallowed a thickness in his throat. "I'll be here," he said to her, as if it was something he really had to promise.

Anne smiled and patted his cheek and then went to go to her own room, leaving Beth and Daryl alone in the living room. They got themselves ready for bed and Beth slipped in between the sheets as blankets as Daryl turned off the lights and crawled in beside her. Immediately, Beth laid close to him, her head resting on his chest and his arm wrapping around her shoulders, holding her tight. It was quiet – the kind of quiet he liked. The kind of quiet where a person could think they were the only one left in this whole world.

Beth yawned and shifted, trying to nestle even closer, and Daryl made sure she was covered completely with the blankets. She always seemed to be cold all of the time.

"This will be such a nice tradition to have," she said, her voice already getting a little slower as she began to drift off to sleep. "Coming up here every year for Thanksgiving. Just wait until we add our own kids to all of this."

Daryl didn't say anything but he squeezed his arm around her shoulders a little tighter and listened as she dropped off into her slumber and he looked up at the dark ceiling.

He felt himself smiling a little. He couldn't wait to bring their kids up here – and not just for Thanksgiving. He wondered how Beth would feel about having a baby right away. He was thinking that he wanted Aunt Anne to meet any baby of his while she was still around to. Since they wouldn't be able to meet Grandma Liv, they could still meet Aunt Anne and he wanted his and Beth's kids to always know that they had this big family up here in Kentucky who would always welcome and love them.

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 **Christmas at the Greene farm in the next chapter told from Beth's POV.  
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 **Thank you for reading and please review!**


	2. Christmas - Part One

**I know the first chapter had hardly any Daryl/Beth in it so to make up for it, I have made this entire chapter basically just these two. Christmas had to be split into two parts. Their wedding will be in part four.**

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 **Part Two.** Christmas – part one.

She had graduated in May and she was still trying to figure out what she wanted to do with the rest of her life.

She was afraid of this happening once she had dropped out of the education program and had just gotten her degree in music. At the time, she had thought she was making the right decision. She hadn't wanted to be a teacher. It hadn't felt right and had only stuck with it for so long because what could a person do with just a music degree. As Beth was finding out for herself, there wasn't much to be done.

Beth had talked with Daryl a few times about opening up her own music store but something like that took money and it was a risky venture anyway – with so many independent music stores going under on account of no one really buying physical music anymore if it wasn't on ITunes. And giving piano lessons to a few of the kids in town only gave her so much money and helped pay so many bills.

Living with Daryl, he told her that his job at the GE Warehouse was a good job and brought home good money and living in his cabin that had become theirs, there weren't that many bills anyway. He told her that she could take as long as she needed to find something and if she never did, if she just wanted to give piano lessons in their cabin to a few kids, she could do it. She could do whatever she wanted because for the first time in his life, Daryl was financially stable and he had enough to take care of both of them.

And Beth knew that Daryl would have no problem with that but Beth didn't like the idea of Daryl going to work every day and taking care of her when she wanted to take care of him, too.

Her last lesson on Wednesday – the day before Christmas Eve – was to Sophia Peletier. Sophia was playing tomorrow night at her church's mass and she wanted to get _I Saw Three Ships_ perfected. Beth kept telling her that she had the song down pat but Sophia was a perfectionist and wanted to play it "just one more time", she kept saying, and Beth didn't have the heart to tell her that it was time to stop.

A little before five, Daryl got home, quietly entering through the front door once still hearing piano music and Beth turned, giving him a smile and he returning it with a small one of his own as he went into the kitchen, being as quiet as he could be – just as he always was when she was giving a lesson.

At five after five, there was a knock on the front door and Daryl went to go answer it, opening it for Sophia's mom, Carol, who smiled at Daryl and stepped inside. It was a frigid night and the cold air rushed in and even though the piano was right beside the fireplace, a warm fire roaring within, Beth still shivered.

Sophia started the song one more time and Beth could hear Carol talking quietly with Daryl in the kitchen. Carol once had been Beth's college advisor and had been hesitant when Beth told her she wanted to drop out of the education program. The last thing Beth wanted was for Carol to think that she was right; that Beth had nothing to do now that she was no longer pursuing a career as a teacher.

She considered giving piano lessons to be different. Yes, she was still teaching but she wasn't in a classroom. It was just her and one other student and she could teach them any music they wanted. They weren't on some syllabus or following guidelines. And Beth knew she could handle and teach one at a time. She hadn't been sure she could handle twenty or more at once. She just knew, deep in her heart, that she hadn't wanted to be a teacher at a school and there was nothing wrong with that and she was just glad she figured that out sooner rather than later.

She just wished she knew what to do now.

"Alright, Sophia," Carol said. "It's time to go and get some dinner."

Sophia sighed but she stood up from the bench.

"Wait! Don't forget," Beth said and reached onto the top of the piano lid where she had stacks of sheet music, paper and on top of that, she had several sheets of stickers for the kids to choose from at the end of their lessons.

Sophia smiled as she chose carefully and decided on a cat wearing a Santa hat. Beth took it and placed it on the front of her piano book to join her others.

"You are going to do so wonderful tomorrow," Beth said as they walked from the piano to where Carol and Daryl were standing. "Just remember. Tap your foot as you play. It helps keep your rhythm and you won't have my metronome with you."

"I'll remember," Sophia nodded. "Will you and Daryl come hear me?" She asked.

"Sophia, Daryl and Beth go to a different church," Carol reminded her daughter. She then looked to Beth. "I'll record it for you."

"That'd be great," Beth smiled. "I can't wait to hear it."

"Here you go," Carol handed her the folded check written out and given to Beth at the end of each lesson. "I paid a little extra this week. For Christmas."

Beth almost hesitantly opened the check and saw that the amount was written for sixty dollars instead of Beth's usual fee of thirty dollars per lesson. And when she saw it, she almost immediately opened her mouth to protest but before she could, Carol handed a small gift bag to Sophia.

"You left that in the car," she told her daughter.

"Here, Beth!" Sophia in turn held the bag out towards Beth with a wide, eager smile. "Merry Christmas!"

"This is too much…" Beth began to say and taking the bag, she set it on the counter and pulled out a box from within. Opening the top lid, she couldn't help but gasp a little as she pulled out a glass angel figurine, the angel sitting at a piano with its wings spread out behind it. "Oh, it's so beautiful," she said as she turned it carefully in her hands, looking over every detail.

"I thought it would be perfect for you," Sophia said proudly. "The piano is you and Daryl always wears that vest with the angel wings on the back of it."

"I love it. Thank you so much," Beth said and then setting the figure down on the counter, she first embraced Sophia in a hug and then Carol as well. "Merry Christmas," she smiled to them both.

"Merry Christmas! See you next week!" Sophia called out as she and Carol walked outside and Beth stood on the porch, waving to them as they drove back down the path that would take them from the woods back onto the main road.

Behind them, they left nothing but quiet. It was so quiet and the air smelled so crisp, Beth wondered if it would snow that night.

Hurrying back inside, she closed and locked their front door once more and saw that Daryl was back in the kitchen from where he had gone upstairs for a moment.

"Look," Beth smiled, picking up the angel figurine. "Isn't it beautiful?"

Daryl turned his head away from the cabinet he was sifting through. "Yeah," he agreed with a nod of his head. "You cleaned up with your kids this year," he then said and she laughed a little as she went to go put the figurine on top of the piano.

It was true. Judith Grimes was her littlest, youngest student and Lori had given Beth a tin of chocolate and peanut butter fudge. Mika and Lizzie Samuels had given her a large poinsettia pot that was now sitting in their bedroom, upstairs beneath the large circular window where it would get plenty of sunlight. Molly Garrison and her younger brother, Grant, had given her a new red cable-knit scarf and Patrick Harris had gifted her with a container of snowmen shaped sugar cookies.

"I got another little tip, too," Beth said, returning to the kitchen area. "How was work today?" She asked as she gently ushered him away as he clearly was looking for something to eat and grabbed her oven mitts.

He shrugged. "Kind of slow. Most of the construction has stopped for the year. Had a couple of guys comin' in, lookin' for this or that but most of the day, I just cleaned the warehouse and thought about you."

"Me?" She couldn't help but feel surprised at that. "What about me?"

"About what you're doin'," he said and closed the oven door once she pulled out the casserole dish she had been cooking in there. Beth just kept looking at him, waiting for him to continue. She took down two plates from the cabinet and began scooping out the chicken and rice cheesy casserole she had made them for dinner. "You got seven kids and that's thirty bucks for each of 'em. $210 a week."

Beth nodded, already knowing this. When she had first started giving lessons, she had been unsure of the amount to charge but after doing some research, she found most piano teachers charged anywhere between thirty and forty dollars per half-hour and some in Atlanta charged fifty of more.

"You're not doin' bad and you're doin' what you wan' to do," he said.

Beth exhaled a soft breath and handed him the plate but he didn't take it to the table. He just stared at her. She knew he didn't like it when she served him but she knew right now, the stare wasn't about that. He was waiting for her to say something to what he had just told her.

Moving past him, she took her own plate to their square kitchen table and set it down before returning and getting the water pitcher from the refrigerator, along with two glasses, and bringing them to the table as well. Daryl grabbed forks and finally followed her, sitting in his chair across from her as they both settled in to eat.

"I just think maybe I should be doing something more," she said. "I went to college for four years to teach seven piano lessons a week?"

Daryl shrugged. "Gives you plenty of time to write your own music which I know is what you really wan' to do."

She frowned a little, unable to help herself. "And what? Wait for that multi-million dollar record contract to fall in my lap? I can't make money from my music writing."

Daryl was the one to sigh this time. "Why do you think we need so much money? You make money and I make money and we're gettin' married. We have enough to take care of ourselves and be comfortable."

Beth didn't say anything to that. She didn't _know_ what to say. Daryl made it sound so easy and she wondered if it really could be. It was enough money for them – yes – but what about when they had a baby. She didn't know what Daryl thought of the manner. They had only mentioned it once or twice in passing and were usually joking when they did but Beth knew she wanted a baby. Right away, too, if Daryl wouldn't mind getting one in her. Would they have enough money then?

"I jus' wan' to take care of you and I wan' you to be happy, Beth," he said quietly and she lifted her eyes to look at him as he stared down at his plate, playing with the rice on his plate.

"You do and I am, Daryl," she said in a matching soft voice. "I've never been happier."

Daryl looked at her for a moment, as if trying to decide whether or not he could believe her when she said that and then finally, he gave a slight nod and she smiled.

"Good?" She then asked.

Daryl immediately shoved a forkful of the casserole into his mouth. "Good."

She giggled and ate a much smaller forkful from her plate. "I talked to my daddy today and he's thinking he wants us there around four tomorrow – just to get ourselves there and settled. Service is at seven and then on Christmas, Patricia and Otis get there around eleven and we'll eat around three."

"Sounds good."

"I can't wait for your first Christmas on the farm. Eggnog and Christmas carols and prime rib for dinner and we watch _Home Alone_ and _Christmas Vacation_ every year. You'll love it," she smiled just as she thought of taking Daryl for their first Christmas together – both as a couple and an engaged one to boot - and she was so glad they got to spend it with her family.

She hadn't been sure if he would want to go to Kentucky and even though she hated the idea of them being apart for the holidays, she didn't know if she would want to spend the holiday away from her family. But Daryl had seemed to read her mind because one day he came to her and told her that he had spoken with his Aunt Anne and he told her that they would be there for Thanksgiving and Christmas would be with Beth's family. Daryl already knew how important Christmas was to Beth.

Daryl hadn't had a real Christmas in so many years – not since his grandma – and Beth wanted to make this Christmas absolutely perfect for him.

First things first.

The weekend after Thanksgiving, they went to go get a Christmas tree. A real tree and they bought a stand and they spent the morning, walking through the rows until Beth declared that she had found the perfect one and Daryl cut it down like an old pro and after shaking it out, they took it back home where they set it up in their living room, in front of the large back window. Beth then decorated it with the lights and ornaments that she had gotten from her father – Annette had had so many ornaments and Maggie had gotten ornaments that had belonged to her mother and Beth got the ornaments that had belonged to hers. And once she was done – after having Daryl hang at least one – she had him place the star on top.

She had hung red stockings from the fireplace and a wreath from the front door. She had also wrapped lights around the banister that led up the stairs to their lofted bedroom and put flannel sheets on the bed and a red comforter with a white reindeer design on it. And every night, she made them cups of hot chocolate and she curled herself into a blanket and sat with Daryl on the couch in front of the fire.

"And this Christmas should be even more interesting because Shawn's bringing a girl he's been dating," Beth smiled.

Daryl raised an eyebrow at that. "I don't know if I wanna meet a girl who dates your brother," he said and Beth couldn't help but laugh at that.

"Apparently, it's been going on for a few months but they've wanted to keep it quiet. Shawn thinks it's now time to introduce her," Beth said. "I wonder who she is. I really can't picture a normal girl dating my brother. Maggie will interrogate her."

"No one interrogated me when you took me for my first movie night," he reminded her.

"Well, that's because they all liked you immediately. Maggie will want to make sure this girl is in her right mind if she's dating Shawn," Beth explained and Daryl smirked at that as he kept shoveling food into his mouth until his plate was clean.

He then got up to get himself a second helping.

"This the mail?" He asked at the letters on the counter.

"Oh!" Beth hurried herself from the table. "I nearly forgot. Just Christmas cards from people but Annie wrote you something." She pulled the white envelope from the pile and held it out for him and saw the way Daryl smiled a little as he took it.

She was so happy that Daryl had found his family after going his entire life without knowing any of them and he had found a cousin he could be close with. It was adorable in Beth's opinion that that cousin was just fourteen-years-old but she saw the way Daryl and Annie were when they were together and they were definitely family. They just seemed to understand one another.

Daryl slipped the envelope into his back pocket and then surprised Beth by leaning into her then and kissing her gently on the lips, his hand lifting to rest on her cheek.

"Thank you for makin' dinner," he said.

"Of course," she smiled into his eyes.

"I like comin' home and havin' you here," he added.

"Good thing you're marrying me then," she teased him.

"Smartest thing I ever did, askin' you," he smirked a little and she laughed slightly.

"You asked me? Is that what you call it?"

"Quiet," he playfully growled as she laughed again and he pushed back to her once more, kissing her and dropping his arms around her, wrapping her in them securely and then pushing her back gently into the refrigerator behind her.

Daryl proposing to her definitely hadn't been something she had been expecting. They had been together for a couple of months and living together just for one of those and she hadn't had any clue that marriage had even been on his mind.

But one morning, she woke up and was surprised to see the warm sun already shining into the cabin. And Daryl was still sleeping beside her, his head on her chest and holding her as if she was a stuffed animal. It was very rare for them to sleep in like this and she wondered if they had _really_ worn one another out the night before.

She was _very_ satisfied and _very_ content with hers and Daryl's sex life. Once Daryl had gotten past his initial shyness and lack of confidence, there really was no stopping him. Daryl Dixon was a selfless lover and did everything in his power to make her lose her mind at least twice before he even thought of losing his own. It was as if he was addicted to her and even if she was practically sobbing and shaking from the bed and telling him she needed him to stop, he only seemed to with great reluctance. He seemed to get himself off with her screams of absolute pleasure.

She shifted a little, warm with his arms and heavy head on her and upon feeling her move, it seemed to immediately wake him up, too. He took a moment to wake himself up and Beth circled her fingers around the bare bicep resting over her middle. Her boyfriend had the absolutely best arms she had ever seen. She was pretty sure they could make her drool on the spot.

Daryl lifted his head then and looked at her. She gave him a soft smile, still not completely awake herself.

"Hi," she said softly, her voice rough – both from last night and going the past few hours without using it. "We slept in," she then said, smiling a little bit more.

Daryl didn't say anything though. He just looked at her and kept looking at her and she wondered what he was looking at because she could just imagine how she looked this morning. Her hair was probably a complete disaster and she hadn't gotten the chance to wash the makeup from her face before they had fallen into bed and she knew it was probably all smeared. She definitely wasn't looking her best.

"Daryl," she said, squirming a little because he was still staring at her and he hadn't said anything yet. It was slightly disconcerting. "What?" She then laughed a little as if she was embarrassed by this all.

Daryl shook his head slightly and then slowly sat up. The covers fell around his waist as he sat up – exposing his chest and stomach and Beth wondered if she loved his abs just as much as she loved his arms – and Beth sat up, too, pulling the covers around her naked chest, watching as he turned towards the nightstand on his side of the bed and opened the top drawer. He seemed to be digging for something and took a minute to do so before he turned back towards her.

And this time, in his hand, there was a small box. A _ring_ box. And there was only one sort of ring he would be holding in his hand.

Beth's mouth fell open as she looked at it and then she looked at him. He didn't say anything though as his eyes were lowered to the box as well and when he finally looked at her, he still didn't say anything.

"Is that…" she heard herself say barely above a whisper and her heart was beating so fast, she could hear the blood pounding in her ears. She didn't know why but she felt so scared all of a sudden; scared that maybe it _wasn't_ what she thought and suddenly, she wanted it to be that so much.

She hadn't even been thinking about it but now that she saw the box in Daryl's palm, she couldn't think of anything else now.

"Yeah," he finally spoke, his voice low and gruff and rough and he didn't say anything else as he lowered his eyes back to the box.

His fingers moved slowly as he pulled the lid back and Beth felt her eyes flood with a rush of tears. It was beautiful. The most beautiful ring she had ever seen. A small diamond on a white-gold band but she didn't need something huge. She had never imagined having a ring that would weigh down her entire hand. This was the ring she would have picked for herself and _Daryl_ had picked it. She felt more tears coming and she wanted to cry and ask him so many questions.

When did he get this? _Why_ did he get this? How long had he been thinking about this – marrying her?

"Yes," she whispered before he could even ask her and his eyes widened slightly as if he had been taking the time to gather his words and she had just stolen all of his thunder. But it didn't matter. "Yes, I'll marry you, Daryl Dixon," she said, her voice a bit louder now and her words firmer. "I'll marry you tomorrow if I can."

And Daryl exhaled a shaky breath and he pulled the ring from the box. He took her left hand and Beth held her breath as he slipped it onto her third finger. Perfect fit. They both looked at it for a moment and then lifted their eyes at the same time, meeting, and his hand lifted to the back of her head and pulled her into a kiss. Beth happily kissed him in return and now, the tears were released and they slipped down her cheeks as she held hair back from his face. She couldn't stop kissing him.

And despite the eagerness they both shared to get married, they decided to take their time with it and have a wedding next spring. She loved the blossoms of the trees on the farm in the spring and she admitted to him that she had always dreamt of getting married as they sprinkled down around her and after that, Daryl made the decision that they would wait to get married and plan it right.

Now, in December, there were just five more months to go. May 14th was the best date she had ever heard. The invitations had already gone out. The church had been reserved. She already had her dress even though it had to be properly fitted. They had to pick caterers and taste samples of cake but other than that, they were both ready to go. They were more than ready to go. If Beth hadn't mentioned her dreams of a spring wedding, she knew she and Daryl would be married already.

And him wanting to give her what she wanted just made her love him all the more.

He may have known her family and had spent so much time with them already but hopefully, after Christmas with her family – especially with Shawn and Maggie – Daryl would still love her and still want to marry her.

…

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 **Thank you so much for reading and please take a moment to review! I hope you liked it!**


	3. Christmas - Part Two

**This Christmas keeps turning out longer than initially planned. The next chapter will be Christmas Day. Please review if you read. It would really mean a lot to me because I love this story so much and I want to know if you love it, too.**

* * *

…

 **Part Three.** Christmas – part two.

"Now, I know you two are engaged and you already live together but under this roof, you are going to be sleeping in separate rooms," Hershel said as they followed him up the stairs to the second floor of the farmhouse. "Bethy, you're in your room, of course, and Daryl, since Shawn's guest is going to have the spare bedroom on the first floor, I'm afraid I have to put you up in the room in the attic."

"I'd rather be up there anyway," Daryl said only loud enough for Beth to hear and she threw him a smile as they stopped outside her open bedroom door.

He went in and dropped her bag onto the floor next to the bed. No matter how many times she told him she could carry her own bag no matter where they were, Daryl had a tendency to just ignore her and carry it himself.

"And I don't want you two sneaking around at night, thinking you can share a bed without me knowing, Beth going up to the attic or you, Daryl, coming down here," Hershel continued.

"We would never do that, daddy," Beth said. "We're not Maggie and Glenn."

Hershel almost cracked a smile at that. "Thank the Lord for that. It's a miracle I survived their courtship with any hair left on my head."

Daryl looked at Beth questioning but she just smiled and shook her head – a promise that she would tell him later. Beth knew – as did Hershel – that they truly were nothing like how her older sister and now husband were when they were dating and then engaged. Daryl not only respected Hershel but was even a little frightened of him and would never go against his rules in his home. And it wasn't as if Glenn didn't respect Hershel – he did, immensely. It was just that Maggie had an ability to get guys around her to act a little stupid sometimes and if she thought sneaking around the house at night with him was a good idea, Glenn would start thinking that, too, despite what Hershel had said to the contrary.

"I have some cold-cuts in the fridge if you want to eat a sandwich or two before service tonight," Hershel said. "And Daryl, you know where the extra towels and blankets are. You let me know if you need anything else."

"Thank you, sir," Daryl said and Hershel just gave him a look.

They had had the "sir" discussion more than once and he wondered if Daryl would feel comfortable calling him by his name, finally, after he and Beth were married.

"Bethy, I'll need your help with something in the barn once you're settled," Hershel said , pausing in the doorway before leaving.

Beth burst into a smile. "I'll be out there soon," she said with an eager head nod.

"You need me to do somethin'?" Daryl asked once Hershel had headed back down the stairs and they were left alone in her bedroom – with the door wide open.

"Nope," Beth just smiled and picked her bag up, placing it on the bed. She smiled at the thought of being here next Christmas and Daryl sharing this double bed with her. May couldn't come fast enough in her opinion. "Your Christmas present is out there so you're not allowed to take a step towards that barn until tomorrow."

Daryl only frowned at her though. "You didn' get me a horse, did you?" He asked. "We had an amount set of how much we could spend on presents-"

"No, no," she quickly cut him off and walked up to him, smiling as she slipped her arms around his waist. "I promise. I did not get you a horse. Beauty would be heartbroken if you didn't show him as much attention anymore. But I did get you something I hope you'll love and I don't want you to spoil the surprise."

He looked down at her. "I won't go out to the barn at all 'till tomorrow," he promised her as his own hands rested on her back and Beth beamed up at him.

He thought of his own presents to her; presents that Lori Grimes had offered to wrap for him because he had no idea how to wrap presents. And suddenly, he began to worry that they weren't good enough. Beth's favorite holiday was Christmas and he could just imagine how amazing the present was that she had gotten for him and even though she had told him that she didn't even need a present because he had bought her the engagement ring, of course Daryl had gotten her a few presents. Nothing too big or extravagant though and he was worried now that they should be.

"Come on," Beth said and then pushed herself up on her toes, giving him a light kiss on his lips. "Let's go get you settled upstairs."

Daryl nodded and swung his bag back onto his shoulder and he followed Beth from her bedroom up the stairs to the attic, which had been cleaned out a few years ago and made into a spare bedroom with an old wooden bed, an extra dresser and even a wash bowl and pitcher because sometimes, water was needed and a person didn't want to head down the stairs to the second floor in the middle of the night.

Beth sat down on the edge of the bed with a grin, bouncing a few times as if testing the mattress, and Daryl set his bag down on the foot of the bed before sitting down beside her. She leaned into him and slipped her arm though his, her cheek resting against his bicep, and Daryl slipped his hand over to rest on her thigh.

"Thank you for spending Christmas with me," she said softly and Daryl's brow furrowed as he looked to the top of her head, a little confused, and even though her head was resting against his arm and she couldn't see his face, she didn't seem to have an issue with imagining what his face looked like right now. "I was just a little worried that you would want to go to Kentucky to see your family and I didn't know if I would be able to be away from mine for the holiday…"

Daryl had already known that even if they hadn't had a discussions about it. He knew both how important Christmas and her family was to her. That was why he had suggested that Thanksgiving be with his family and Christmas be with hers.

"'ve known you longer than any of these families. I would just wan' to spend Christmas with you no matter where we were," he said in his gruff voice and he always tried to soften his voice when with her but sometimes, he thought it still came out too rough-sounding to his ears.

Beth didn't seem to mind though – never – and she lifted her head, giving him a warm smile. She leaned up and kissed him softly. "I'm so glad I'm marrying you."

He felt the tips of his ears turn red. He gave his head a nod. "Me, too. I…" he began to say but then he stopped himself as if embarrassed by it even though he knew he had no reason to be. "I can't wait for May," he then got the words out and they made her burst into a wider smile.

"I can't wait either," she said, shaking her head slightly. "And I know we wanted a small wedding at first but I'm so happy your family is coming down to celebrate with us. And we don't even have to pay for a band this way."

Daryl smirked a little. "Will I be seein' you at all at this reception or will you just be singin' with my family the whole night?"

She giggled a little and shrugged. "You know where to find me then if you lose me."

They could hear voices rising from downstairs, signaling that others of her family had arrived. Beth stood up and took one of his hands in both of hers, pulling him to his feet. She wrapped her arms around him and Daryl dropped his own arms around her, taking a moment to just hold her and hug her close and Beth closed her eyes, pressing her nose to his shoulder.

Sometimes, he got in these moods where he just wanted to hold her; as if his mind was letting him know that she was actually real and that she was actually here and that he actually had her and that she wasn't going anywhere. And he had gone through so much of his life without physical contact that could be considered the good kind but now that he had Beth, he wanted to get used to it. His family and hers were full of huggers and Beth was no exception. He figured that if he had Beth for the rest of his life, the rest of his life wasn't looking too bad.

Down the two flights of stairs back to the first floor, Glenn and Maggie had arrived and with them, they had brought their grey cat, Blackbeard, sitting fat and content in Maggie's arms with a gold bell hanging from his collar.

Beth frowned. "Maggie, you said…" she began to say.

"Don't worry, Bethy," Maggie cut her off. "Blackbeard won't care. I promise. And if he does, we'll lock him in my room for the morning until things calm down."

Daryl had no idea what they were talking about but that was pretty common when it came to the Greene sisters. They seemed to talk in their own language much of the time. He picked up a couple of the bags from the floor that they had brought and Glenn looked relieved. Daryl wondered what the hell they had packed because they just lived a few minutes away and how the hell long were they planning on staying?

"You excited?" Glenn asked as they climbed the stairs and went into Maggie's room.

Daryl shrugged. "Sure," he said because he had never liked Christmas as much as everyone else in the Greene family apparently did. Even when his Grandma was alive, it had pretty much been like any other day to him even though the woman had done her best to make it special for him.

"We eat a lot and sleep and really don't do a whole lot else," Glenn said. "Just the way the holidays should be. What'd you get Beth?"

"Few lil' things I saw that made me think of her," Daryl answered without going into detail. "What'd you get Maggie?"

"She's had her eye on this necklace and she has no idea that she's getting it. Cost a few paychecks but it'll be worth it," Glenn smiled.

Daryl didn't say anything to that; just kind of nodded and followed Glenn back downstairs. He knew Glenn made more money than him, owning his own successful pizzeria, and with Maggie working at the bank, they had plenty of money. Daryl knew he and Beth were in a completely different boat. He worked in a warehouse and though GE was a great company to work for and he was making more money than he ever had before, it was still just a warehouse job. He told Beth that they were fine financially. He made enough and she made money every week and they weren't starving anytime soon. He just knew, financially, Glenn and Maggie did better than them and Glenn could afford to buy his wife an expensive necklace if that's what they both wanted.

Daryl couldn't help but wonder if Beth wanted a necklace like that.

They found Hershel, Beth and Maggie in the kitchen, fixings to make sandwiches all spread out on the table in the middle of the room. Each year, the girls came to help Hershel decorate the house for Christmas in the ways that their mothers had done while still living and it was a production that took an entire weekend because not only was there the real tree in the living room but there were also two artificial trees, the large nativity set, holly and lights that were strung throughout the rooms and Daryl wondered if department stores were as decked out as this house was.

"Want a sandwich?" Beth asked. "It'll be late by the time we get out of service."

Daryl nodded and didn't say anything as he pushed his hands into his pockets.

He thought of what he had gotten her. A box of different teas. A new ceramic tea mug. A bag of a variety of flower bulbs because she loved flowers and he knew she wanted to plant many around the cabin. A box of chocolate truffles. A new messenger bag that he caught her looking at in the store along with a pair of wool mittens she had been admiring. A set of new beaded bracelets for her wrist because she always hid the scar there no matter what.

Nothing fancy or too expensive and he wondered if she would be disappointed tomorrow morning when she saw it all, having silently hoped for something more.

They heard the front door bang open.

"Ho, ho, ho, hoes!" Shawn called out and Beth and Maggie rolled their eyes, not stopping in the making of their sandwiches to go greet their brother.

A moment later, Shawn entered wearing a scarf with reindeer around his neck and his coat was open, revealing that he was wearing a sweater with the same design. Following behind, smiling but looking a bit hesitant, there was a pretty Latina with her black hair pulled back into a ponytail.

Hershel went over to hug him and clap him on the back and then smiled at the girl.

"Hello, Merry Christmas," Hershel said, holding out a hand.

"Merry Christmas," the girl smiled in return, shaking his hand.

"Everyone, this is Rosita. Rosita, this is everyone," Shawn introduced, sweeping his arm over the room. "Is that salami?" He then asked, walking to table.

"You are a very stupid person," Maggie commented to him and he maturely stuck his tongue out at her before grabbing two slices of bread for himself.

"Hi, I'm Shawn's sister, Beth," Beth was the one to step forward with a smile and held her hand out, shaking Rosita's. "That's Maggie, Shawn's other sister. Glenn Rhee, Maggie's husband, my fiancée, Daryl Dixon, and this is our daddy, Hershel."

"Nice to meet you all," Rosita smiled at each of them. "Shawn has told me so much about all of you."

"See?" Shawn spoke up as if in defense of himself.

"Would you like something to eat since you're dating a guy who doesn't think enough to offer you anything himself?" Maggie offered.

"We actually stopped and ate along the way," Rosita said.

Maggie rolled her eyes and looked to Shawn as he took a big bite of his sandwich. "Of course you did," she said.

"How was traffic getting out of Atlanta?" Hershel asked as they all returned to the table to begin making their own sandwiches.

They talked about traffic and weather and what was happening on the farm. They talked about work and how Shawn and Rosita met – no one was surprised when Shawn said it had been in a bar where Rosita tended – and they talked about the upcoming Christmas service that evening.

Daryl didn't talk that much except when someone asked him a direct question. He ate his turkey, lettuce and cheese sandwich and just listened to everyone around him as he usually did. Rosita seemed to actually be a good fit for Shawn. She seemed to not mind his need to say ridiculous or asinine things and in fact, she seemed amused by it all. Maggie asked her about her family and work and if she grew up in Georgia and when she found out she had lived in Texas, Maggie continued her interrogation of how Rosita had wound up in Atlanta.

After they ate and began cleaning up, Shawn showed Rosita the first floor guest room off the front parlor and Hershel reminded Beth that they needed to go out to the barn to check on something. Beth smiled at Daryl and popped a quick kiss on his lips and he watched as she hurried out the back door after her dad.

"You know what that's about?" Daryl asked Maggie and Glenn.

"No, they don't tell me anything," Glenn said honestly. "I can't keep secrets."

"He really can't," Maggie smiled then as if she found the whole thing adorable. She then looked to Daryl, still smiling, looking a bit excited now. "And you'll find out tomorrow morning."

Daryl didn't say anything but looked out the window of the back door as if he could see that far into the barn to see what Hershel and Beth were up to. He had no idea what it could be. He supposed it could be anything – the barn being big enough to hide just about anything of any size. He really had no clue where to even think about what it could be. He just hoped that whatever Beth's present was to him, it didn't make him feel shitty for not getting her something better than teas and chocolates.

…

Service lasted for a little over two hours. Daryl wasn't a church-going man but he was marrying a girl who was very involved with the church and he knew that he would have to be, too. He didn't necessarily have to believe anything he heard being talked about but he knew it meant a lot to Beth that he went with her. And he knew that when they had kids, Beth would want to raise them in the church, too, and Daryl saw no reason to refuse that.

After all the sermons and readings and singing all the songs, it was a little after nine-thirty and they had driven two cars so he, Beth, Shawn and Rosita headed back to the farm, following after Hershel's truck. Beth and Rosita were talking about some stores and restaurants in Atlanta that they both knew and loved and they found out that a couple of the people Beth had gone to college with and were in the music program with now worked and lived in Rosita's neighborhood and she just happened to know them and Shawn would pipe in with his own opinions on certain Atlanta things. Daryl was quiet and just drove. He had only been to Atlanta a couple of times in his life and he had hated it. Too many people, too crowded, and he knew he would never go there if he could help it.

Once they got home, it was decided by most of them that they were ready for bed. Shawn was actually the one to suggest it first. He was tired from all of the traffic and driving and listening to Father Gabriel for two hours could wear anyone out.

"I have to go out to the barn one more time," Beth said to Daryl. "Will you wait up for me?" She asked.

"Yeah. 'm gonna head up to bed but Imma stay awake for 'ya," he said.

She smiled and kissed him and she hurried out the back door once more. He really wish he had some sort of idea as to what the hell she had out there in the barn for him but he supposed he would find out soon enough.

He really didn't know about his presents to her now though. He thought of the necklace Glenn had got for Maggie and Shawn probably got Rosita something nice and expensive and he thought of the little dinky presents he had gotten for Beth. Her engagement ring was nice enough and she seemed to love it and he guessed that was all that mattered but at the same time, he thought of Maggie's big diamond and he wondered if Beth was really going to be happy with just a warehouse guy.

He kept having to tell himself that Beth didn't care about stuff like that. She loved him and if she did care about big engagement rings and big houses, she sure as hell wouldn't have been with him. Beth was a strong girl and she knew what she did and didn't want in life and she knew how to get what she wanted. And for some damned odd reason, she wanted him.

The house was falling quiet as everyone went into their rooms to get themselves ready for bed and Daryl headed upstairs to the attic. He stripped himself down, tugging on a pair of sweatpants and a tee-shirt. With a yawn, he climbed into the old creaky bed and laid down, blinking up at the slanted ceiling. He didn't know what Beth was doing or how long she would be but now that he was lying down, he was surprised at how tired he now felt.

He didn't know how much time had passed but he must have lightly drifted off because he opened his eyes upon feeling the bed shift and Beth was in her pajamas – pajama shorts with candy canes and a red long-sleeve shirt – climbing in with a smile.

"I won't stay long," she said. "I know you're tired and I'm not going to disrespect my daddy's rules in his house."

Daryl didn't say anything. He just lifted his arm and she smiled a bit, shifting and laying down beside him. He wrapped his arm around her and with his other arm, he brought the covers back over them both.

"You take care of what you need to take care of?" He asked, his eyes drifting shut again because now Beth was next to him and her head was on his shoulder and sleep was calling to him.

He couldn't wait for next Christmas when they could sleep in the same bed.

"I can't wait to give you your present tomorrow," she smiled.

"I hope you like what I got you," he murmured.

"I'm going to love whatever you give me," she said, tilting her head up towards him. His eyes were closed but he held her tighter. "You worry too much, Daryl Dixon."

"Jus' wanna give you everythin'," he said, his words growing slower as he felt himself drifting off to sleep.

Beth with her sweet scent filling his nose was just so damn warm and he had gotten so used to sleeping with her these past few months, he hated the idea of her leaving him in a few minutes but she was right. This was Hershel's house and Hershel's rules and he wasn't going to disrespect the man.

Just five more months.

"Are we still getting married in Mary?" She asked.

"Just you try and stop me, girl," he murmured.

She laughed softly. "Then I've already gotten everything I want."

She nestled her face to the side of his neck and he wished she didn't have to leave to go back to her own room for the night. He had a feeling Maggie and Glenn didn't follow this rule before they were married. He wondered if Shawn and Rosita would.

He couldn't do that though. Hershel was a good man and he respected him and Hershel liked him and approved of him marrying his youngest daughter. He wasn't going to ruin anything by disobeying his future father-in-law's simple rule.

"Daryl, if you don't like my present, you'll tell me, right? You just won't pretend that you do because you don't want to hurt my feelings?" She whispered to him.

"I ain't ever gonna lie to you. But I already know I'm gonna love whatever you got me," he said and she laughed softly.

"I don't know if I'll be able to sleep tonight. I'm so excited for your present," she said.

Daryl's own lips twitched in a little smile and he held her even tighter; holding her now as tightly as he could. He felt her warm breath exhale against his neck and he told himself not to but with her right next to him, he couldn't help himself. He felt himself begin to drift off to sleep even though he knew he shouldn't.

He didn't know what time it was and he didn't know if he was dreaming but he felt Beth's lips brush across his aw and then her lips were at his ear.

"Merry Christmas," she whispered to him.

When he woke up the next morning, he was in bed alone but the air still smelled of her. He wondered what time she had left him and if she had been able to get any sleep herself.

…

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 **Thank you very much for reading and please review!**


	4. Christmas - Part Three

**I'm an idiot. Rosita is the waitress at T-Dog's doughnut shop and now Shawn's girlfriend from Atlanta. I just think my problem is that I love Rosita so much and always want to use her as many times as I can. I'm sorry for the confusion. Thank you so, so much for the reviews. It means so much to me that others are loving this story as much as I am writing it. The next chapter is Beth and Daryl's wedding but after that, I think I want to write more moments in their first year as husband and wife. I still haven't made up my mind.**

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 **Part Four.** Christmas – part three.

Beth loved every single present Daryl gave her. She knew he had been nervous but there was absolutely no reason for him to be. She saw his face when Glenn gave Maggie that necklace and Shawn gave Rosita a new Apple IPhone. He looked as if he almost didn't want to give her anything – at least not in front of anyone else – but then with a heavy breath, he set a small pile of gifts on the coffee table in front of her and she beamed before even opening the first one.

"Did you wrap these yourself?" She asked, picking up the top one.

He smirked a little. "Nah. Lori helped me. I just picked the wrapping paper," he then admitted with the tips of his ears turning red and she giggled a little at the paper's pattern of penguins wearing Santa hats.

"You picked the best paper," she said with the utmost seriousness and for some reason, that seemed to get him to visibly relax a little beside her.

Everyone was opening their own presents, talking and laughing, and no one paid any attention to her and Daryl on the sofa, but Daryl didn't take his eyes from her as she unwrapped each gift he gave her. A box of different teas. A new ceramic tea mug. A bag of a variety of flower bulbs for her to plant – tulips, daffodils and hyacinths, all her favorites. A box of delicious looking chocolate truffles. A new messenger bag and a pair of wool mittens that she had both been admiring every time they went to the store. And a set of new beaded bracelets that she promptly pulled onto her left wrist.

Each present was met with a happy, sincere smile and when she was finished, she looked at him and he still looked so darn nervous. She put the mittens on as well and then cupping his cheeks in her hands, she leaned in and kissed him.

"Everything was exactly what I wanted," she said. Daryl just stared at her and didn't say anything and she smiled softly at him. "I mean it. I loved every single thing. It's all so perfect. You really know me, Daryl. You know me better than anyone."

Daryl lifted his hand and brushed a strand of hair hanging over her cheek and his hand remained, his thumb brushing along the apple of her cheek, and she blushed a little that he would be so tender and affectionate with her in front of others. She knew how he generally felt about open displays of affection.

"Hopefully, you like what I got you," she said, now feeling a little nervous herself.

"'m gonna love it," he assured her just as he had done yesterday and last night.

And she knew she was being silly and yet, she couldn't really get herself to stop. She understood why Daryl was nervous even though she told him not to be just as she felt nervous despite what he told her. This was their first Christmas together and not even that, but he hadn't had a Christmas in so long, she wanted to make it perfect for him. Daryl deserved a perfect Christmas.

"Okay," she said with a deep breath and then stood up from the couch. "Your turn."

"Yay!" Maggie clapped her hands, having overheard. "I'll help!" She scrambled to her feet and Beth smiled down at Daryl.

"I'll be right back," she promised him – as if she had to promise that – and she and Maggie left the living room to head to the back door.

"You girls hurry up before you catch colds!" Hershel called out after them.

They were all still in their pajamas but the sisters tugged on their coats and boots and hurried outside, shivering the instant the cold December air hit their bare legs. They jogged to the barn, giggling and breathing heavily by the time they arrived. The horses stomped their hooves at the sight of them, wanting attention and snacks, and Beth went to the empty stall where Daryl's presents were being kept.

"Do you think he'll like them?" Beth looked to her sister, worried.

"Are you kidding?" Maggie grinned. "Glenn and Shawn are going to be so jealous that they didn't get anything close to this. You worry too much."

"I just want this day to be perfect for him," Beth said as she picked up the box and Maggie picked up the cage with the blanket draped over it.

"Don't. Worry," Maggie said, rubbing a hand on her back. "You two are perfect for each other. All you do is worry about the other being happy."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Beth asked as they left the barn and they began heading back towards the house, looking to her older sister with a slight smile.

"Eh," Maggie shrugged and Beth laughed which made Maggie start laughing, too.

Inside, still wearing their coats and boots, they went back into the living room. Beth felt a mixture of excitement and nerves fluttering around in her stomach as she saw Daryl still sitting on the couch. She took a series of deep breaths and Maggie rolled her eyes, pushing her forward with a gentle elbow to her back.

Beth carried the box and sat down beside him, placing the box in his lap. There was no lid and Daryl looked down to her first present, not moving.

"When I first saw your cabin, I thought it would be the perfect home for one and Otis and Patricia's dog just had a litter and I thought…" Beth trailed off then, watching as Daryl reached into the box and pulled out the excited puppy, his tail wagging nonstop, a mile a minute.

It was a Beagle mix, white with black and brown patches and two brown floppy ears. Daryl looked down between the legs to see that it was a male and he then looked back to the puppy's face, all without saying a word. Beth was aware of how quiet the living room had gotten now and everyone was looking at them. She had gotten pretty good at getting able to read Daryl over their months together but she was still learning and she couldn't be sure whether he liked this first present or not.

Maybe the second would be better.

"And then, daddy found this outside by the barn. It hurt it's wing and he nursed it back to health…" Beth moved to the cage on the coffee table and removed the towel. Immediately, the brown and white little sparrow inside gave a chirp.

Daryl was completely frozen now.

Beth reached over and took the puppy from his hands into her arms and she didn't know what to do. She swallowed the lump in her throat and glanced to her family, who were all watching him, probably waiting for any kind of reaction from him, too.

She wondered if she had just somehow completely ruined their first Christmas together somehow. She wondered what else she should have gotten him. Maybe a new hunting knife or something like that?

Daryl moved the box aside and scooted to the edge of the couch, getting a closer look at the bird, never taking his eyes off of it. "In some areas, the population of house sparrows has fallen 99% and no one knows why," he then said.

Beth burst into a smile.

Hardly anyone knew that Daryl absolutely loved birds and knew so many things about them. It was a love his mother had had, Beth knew, and Daryl had had been a little boy when he had started learning and teaching himself about them, too. They had three bird feeders at their home, two hanging from their porch and one that was stuck to one of their kitchen windows and he seemed to know every breed and something about that breed that came to feed.

Daryl watched the sparrow for another moment and then looked back to Beth. She gave him a smile and his own lips twitched before he reached and took the puppy back into his arms, looking down at the animal for a moment. Daryl then leaned into her and in front of her family, he kissed her right then and there.

"Thank you," he murmured to her quietly.

"Merry Christmas," she murmured quietly in reply.

"Let me see the puppy!" Maggie exclaimed excitedly and Daryl handed the squirming puppy over to her.

After that, everyone wanted to see the puppy and the bird and Daryl remained sitting on the couch beside her. Daryl sank into the back cushions behind him and his eyes remained settled on the bird in front of them. Beth sank a little lower so she could bring her knees up to her chest and rest her head upon his shoulder.

"Do you like your presents?" She then asked, still a little worried.

"Are you kiddin'?" Daryl asked, turning his head towards her and Beth lifted her head to look at him. "They're the best gifts I've ever gotten in my whole life."

And Beth knew he was telling the truth but she still smiled as if she hadn't been expecting that. Maggie was right. She and Daryl were perfect for one another. They were constantly worried that perhaps, they weren't good enough for the other.

"Don' know if I like the idea of keepin' a bird in a cage though," he then admitted.

"I know," Beth agreed. "I wasn't too sure either. It just seems wrong, to keep a bird in a cage when birds are meant to fly, but I knew sparrows were having population problems…" he had told her about it one day. "We can let it go if you want. It won't offend me or anything."

Daryl was quiet for a moment and the sparrow began chirping a song. "No," he then said softly with a shake of his head. "We'll keep it. I like the idea of havin' it in our house. A sparrow…"

Beth smiled at that and then leaned in, kissing him softly on the lips. "Merry Christmas," she whispered to him again.

He lifted his hand once more to her cheek and stared into her eyes. "Merry Christmas," he said in return and she wasn't sure why but she almost felt like crying, tears welling in her eyes. She couldn't have asked for a better Christmas.

"What are you going to name him?" Glenn asked, the puppy now in his arms.

"Beth can name 'im," Daryl decided. "They're good huntin' dogs, aren't they?" He then asked, looking to Hershel.

"Quite good," the man smiled from the chair he was sitting in. "When Bethy told me what she wanted to get you, I knew the beagle would be a fine dog for you."

Daryl smiled a little at that and Rosita was holding the puppy now, nuzzling her nose against his head and rubbing a hand behind his floppy ear.

"Shawn, we have to get a puppy," she then said, looking to her boyfriend.

"Do you know how much responsibility that is?" Shawn asked with a frown. "I hardly remember to change my underwear."

"Shawn," Maggie said in that warning tone of hers and Rosita handed the puppy back to Daryl. "Must you ruin every moment with your insistence of speaking?"

He held it, leaning back once more into the couch and rubbing a thumb behind one of his ears. The puppy's tail was still wagging and he was panting now, his tongue hanging out of his mouth, making it seem as if he was grinning. Beth laughed and leaned in, nuzzling her nose against the puppy's.

"Moseley," Beth then said. Daryl looked at her with a raised eyebrow and she laughed a little again. "I don't know. He looks like a Moseley."

And the puppy's tail seemed to wag even faster as if he agreed.

Daryl smirked a little. "Moseley," he then said with a nod of his head.

"Do you kids want to put one of your movies on? I'll get breakfast," Hershel said, getting to his feet.

"I'll help, daddy," Beth immediately said, getting to her feet. "I need another coffee," she said, picking up her empty mug from the table and after scratching Moseley's head and kissing Daryl on his, she left the living room for the kitchen.

"I'll help, too," Rosita volunteered and followed them.

"Isn't she great?" Shawn smiled proudly.

"She is, but I also wonder if she's been in an mental institution at some point in her life," Maggie commented as she began cleaning up wrapping paper from the floor.

"Oh, Margaret," Shawn smiled with a shake of his head. "Your insults are becoming ridiculously expected. Rosita is crazy for dating me, I get it."

Margaret just narrowed her eyes at him.

Glenn collapsed down beside Daryl as the two oldest Greene siblings began to bicker back and forth and he leaned forward, looking at the little bird.

"Sparrow. That's your family name, isn't it?" Glenn asked.

"On my grandma's side," Daryl nodded.

"The family in Kentucky?" Glenn asked and Daryl nodded once more. "Beth just totally screwed me," he then said and Daryl looked at him. Glenn then smiled a little and leaned back next to him. "Getting something so thoughtful for their significant other. Maggie's going to expect something like that next Christmas. She won't say it but if I don't get her something so well-thought out next year, she'll be disappointed. Guess that means I have to go to Ireland or something. Find the original Greene homestead over there and bring back a rock or something equally meaningful."

Daryl just smirked and continued rubbing behind Moseley's ear, who kept panting.

Without a word, he stood up and carried the puppy into the kitchen. There was a box of doughnuts on the table in the middle of the room that Hershel had gotten from the grocery store and Daryl smirked a little. He'd be sure not to tell T-Dog that he and Beth had eaten doughnuts from someplace other than his shop. Beth was pouring herself her third cup of coffee and pouring one for Rosita as well. Hershel was checking on the prime rib that was defrosting in the sink.

"Was thinkin' he might be thirsty," Daryl spoke out to no one in particular.

"You're right," Beth said, quickly going to the cabinet for a bowl. She filled it with water and set it on the floor and Daryl set Moseley down, the puppy immediately ignoring the bowl of water and choosing to sniff around the entire room instead.

Daryl followed after him and watched him with a close eye. He didn't want the puppy to be peeing anywhere in Hershel's home. Beth helped herself to a glazed doughnut from the box and then sat down on a stool at the table island. She looked at Daryl with a smile and patted the stool beside her. Hesitantly, he went and sat down beside her and she pushed the box of doughnuts towards him. He took out a glazed one for himself as well. He still kept one eye on Moseley as he sniffed at Hershel's ankles before moving on.

"Maybe we can put Moseley in the wedding," Beth smiled and he smirked at that.

"Shawn's told me about the wedding," Rosita spoke up. "It sounds like it's going to be wonderful," she said with a smile.

"We're hoping so," Beth smiled in return. "We were going to keep it small but Daryl comes from a large family and we wanted to make sure they were all invited. We're still going to try and keep it simple though. Ceremony at our church and then a reception here on the farm."

"It's in May?" Rosita asked.

Beth nodded. "And even if you and Shawn aren't together anymore in May, you are officially invited."

Rosita laughed a little. "That might be awkward if your brother and me aren't together anymore and I come to his sister's wedding."

"If you two still aren't together in five months, he's an idiot," Beth said and Rosita smiled at that, not looking embarrassed at the comment. Rosita didn't seem to be the kind of girl to get embarrassed by too much. She then looked to Daryl. "Maybe Moseley can be your best man," she then suggested with a smile.

Daryl smirked and shook his head and took a bite of his doughnut without saying anything to that. He still didn't have a best man picked and he knew he had to make the decision soon. He was leaning towards Rick. Rick seemed like the more obvious choice compared to others.

Yeah, there was Shawn and Glenn but even though they were going to be family and Daryl knew that they would agree to doing it for him immediately, Daryl didn't know if he felt all that comfortable, asking them to do something like that. And he had plenty of cousins to ask, too, but there were almost _too_ many and how the hell would he be able to pick just one of them to do it?

Rick was one of the first people who befriended him upon his arriving in town and invited him over to his home for dinners and holidays with his family. Before he had Beth, Rick's wife, Lori, was always making sure that he was eating and he had even gone with Rick to a few of his son's Little League baseball games. Rick and Lori and he and Beth had been out on a couple of double dates together, too. Having Rick as his best man just made sense, Daryl supposed. He just had to ask the man about it.

"I've seen people have animals as the ring bearers," Hershel said, bending down and lifting Moseley up in his arm. "They tie pillows to their backs and they trot right on down the aisle to the altar."

Beth laughed a little at the thought. "Father Gabriel would _never_ allow that," she said. "You've seen the way that man winces if there's even a speck of dirt on his car."

"Bethy, don't talk about a man of God like that," Hershel said though it was obvious that he was trying to keep himself from smiling.

"Ugh!" Maggie exclaimed, storming into the kitchen. "Daddy, disinherit Shawn this instant!" She demanded.

"Not on Christmas," was all Hershel said before handing Moseley over to Beth. "You still got your boots and coat on. You can come help me feed the horses and cool yourself down for a few minutes."

"I can talk to him," Rosita offered.

"Only if your way of talking to him is murdering him," Maggie said.

"Not on Christmas," Hershel said again and Daryl wondered if he meant to not argue on Christmas or just don't murder Shawn on Christmas.

Once the animals were fed and Moseley had finally drank some water and they all had doughnuts and coffee, they went into the family room this time with the more comfortable couches and chairs and the larger television.

They had movie and pizza night every Saturday night in the family room and they were all silently wondering if Shawn would bring Rosita down for it. Shawn came to the farm nearly every Saturday to help Hershel with things and to stay for movie night. It was something that they had started doing with the death of Annette Greene. It was a way for them to be together and carry on as a family. It may not have seemed like a big deal but Saturday movie and pizza night was a sacred event in the Greene family and only the most serious of relationships were invited to come. Glenn was the only man Maggie had ever brought and Daryl was Beth's. They wondered if Rosita would be Shawn's because if he did, that would mean this relationship was far more serious than any of them could have ever expected.

Shawn held up the two movies they watched every year on Christmas – _Home Alone_ and _Christmas Vacation_ – and they all decided on _Home Alone_ first.

"I ain't never seen either of 'em," Daryl admitted to Beth in a low voice.

Beth just smiled though. "You'll be sick of them both within the next five years."

Daryl didn't know if that would be necessarily true. It wasn't as if the Greene family did anything spectacular for Christmas but Daryl couldn't imagine it ever getting better than this. Sandwiches and church on Christmas Eve and then on Christmas morning, presents and doughnuts and coffee followed with movies and eggnog and hot chocolate and then a prime rib meal and visits from family and ending it with Beth at the piano, playing carols with a fire roaring.

It may have seemed simple but this was the kind of Christmas Daryl had ever wanted for himself when he was growing up and this day was just like any other.

He was sure his Aunt Anne and the rest of his family had a good Christmas but he was glad he was spending this day with Beth and her family. The first time Beth had brought him around, they welcomed him immediately with open arms and were more than happy to have him there with them. At first, he had thought that it was just because before him, Beth had been with a guy who had slapped her around and they would have been happy to see her with anyone else.

It took Daryl a while to realize that they were happy because they liked _him_.

During the movie, Daryl took Moseley out a few times, Beth coming with him each time. The puppy had drank water and Daryl figured he had a tiny bladder and even though Beth told him that they had things to clean up animal messes – her daddy was a vet, she reminded him – Daryl didn't want Moseley to go pee anywhere in the house. The sooner they could get this dog house-trained, the better.

"When we have kids, I don't want them to be spoiled," Beth said rather suddenly and unexpectedly as they stood outside together, watching Moseley sniff at the grass.

Daryl just looked at her and didn't say anything.

She smiled and her cheeks turned pink. "I just mean, I don't want them to get a million presents every year on Christmas from everyone. I think we should have a rule and let everyone know that when we have kids, no millions of presents."

Daryl smirked a little. "Don't have room in the cabin anyway for that many things."

"Do you mind? Having babies?" She then asked. "I know we haven't really talked about it but it's something we definitely have to talk about _before_ we get married because I do want babies and I should be marrying a man who wants the same thing. It doesn't have to be plural. One would be fine if that's all you want-"

"Beth," Daryl swiftly cut off her rambling. "I wan' babies, too."

Beth's smile was immediate at that, bursting across her face.

"Wan' one pretty soon, too," he then admitted, pretending to focus on Moseley while watching Beth from the corner of his eye, wondering what she would think about that. He didn't want to scare her off but he had been thinking about it and he figured it was something Beth would have to know about sooner rather than later.

He heard Beth approaching and then she was standing right next to him, her arms sliding around his waist, and his reaction was immediate and natural, his own arms winding around her, holding her close as she turned and rested her head on his chest. She didn't say anything but he could practically hear her smiling and he relaxed completely, resting his chin on the top of her head.

"We just have to be sure you don't get a baby in me until after the wedding. I can't walk down the aisle wearing white, sporting a bump," she said.

He smirked a little but then shook his head. "I wouldn' do that to you, Beth," Daryl said solemnly. "I know how important that day is to you."

"To you, too," Beth said.

"Yeah, to me, too," Daryl squeezed his arms. "Wouldn' wan' people thinkin' that that's the only reason I'm marryin' you."

She pulled her head back and tilted it up towards him to look at him. "I wouldn't care about that, Daryl, because I know that's not true. I'm just old-fashioned. Marry me first and then you can try as many times as you want to put a baby in me." She was smiling and her eyes were practically twinkling with laughter and Daryl looked at her for a moment before smirking a little.

"Sounds like it'll be fun, tryin'," he said and she laughed before pushing herself up on her toes and kissing him soundly on the lips, her tongue slowly slipping past his lips after a moment and his arms tightened around her body, pressing it to his.

Daryl reminded himself that they couldn't start trying – not yet and especially not out here on her daddy's front yard on Christmas morning.

…

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 **Thank you so much for reading and please comment!**


	5. Springtime

**I'm honestly worried about this chapter just because I feel like it's _too_ fluffy and disgustingly sweet. If you read, please do me a favor and take the time to review. And random note: I imagine this church to look like the church from 2x01. ****Thank you very much.**

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 **Part Five.** Springtime.

Beth's older sister, Maggie, had gone through a phase when she was in high school where she dyed all of her clothes black and she still had some of the colored dye left. Annie was hesitant but Maggie assure her that it would turn out beautifully and Annie finally relented, handing her over the white dress she had brought for the wedding. She knew she couldn't wear white and she didn't have another dress fit to wear to a wedding so it wasn't as if she had many other options.

For the wedding, they were staying all over. Some were staying at Daryl and Beth's home and then others were staying at Beth's family farm. There were people everywhere but no one complained because they were all there for such a good reason, why would they ever complain about being so crowded with family?

Annie and her family were staying at the farm and the morning of the wedding, Maggie pulled Annie into the laundry room where the newly dyed black dress was hanging. It looked like a completely new dress and Annie couldn't help but burst into a smile when she saw it. She had been worried, she admitted. She had wanted to look absolutely perfect for Daryl and Beth's wedding and what person wore a black dress to a wedding? But it looked perfect and like an entirely new dress.

Beth had slept at the farmhouse the night before because she and Daryl weren't allowed to see one another the day of the wedding before the ceremony and Maggie went into Beth's bedroom and Annie followed after her. They weren't the only ones in there though that morning. Her mama, Clementine, Grandma Anne and two more of Daryl's cousins, Jenny and Lucy, were already in there, helping her get ready.

"Annie, that turned out perfectly! You look beautiful!" Beth exclaimed happily as she sat on a stool and Clementine combed and styled her hair.

Annie grinned, smoothing her hands down the front of the dress.

Beth was keeping it simple for today. Her hair was going to be worn down, slightly curled, with the front locks braided and pinned back. She explained to Clementine what she wanted and showed her pictures and mama had no problems with doing it. Her makeup was going to be subtle, too, and it would hardly be noticeable. Just a dusting on her cheeks and eyes and mascara and faint pink lipstick. She hardly wore makeup on a daily basis and she didn't want to show up to the church, painted like a clown on this day of all days.

Lucy worked at the makeup counter in a department store so she was in charge of following Beth's instructions and Jenny was pulling the white wedding dress carefully from the bag it hung in and making sure it wasn't wrinkled and that it looked perfect. Maggie grabbed a bottle of nail polish – Beth liked dark colors and today, she had decided on a dark purple – and went to go begin painting her nails. And Grandma Anne sat on the bed, petting Moseley, the Beagle, and drinking a cup of coffee, making them all laugh with her teasing of how nervous Daryl was from the night before.

"And that was just at the rehearsal dinner!" She laughed. "Wonder how that boy's goin' to be today. I bet that if he don't faint when he sees you, it'll be God's miracle."

"I don't know why he was so nervous," Beth giggled a little, trying not to move so much as everyone primped her. "It was just a practice and then dinner."

"Prob'ly waitin' for you to come to your senses," Clementine noted.

"Hopefully, he'll get the ring on your finger without getting so nervous, he drops it," Maggie grinned and Beth gasped.

"I hadn't even thought of that!" She turned her head towards Grandma Anne as much as she could without messing her hair or makeup up. "You don't think he'll be _that_ nervous, do you?"

Grandma Anne just smiled. "You're known him longer than I have, honey."

Beth looked to Annie, kneeling on the floor at the bedside, scratching Moseley. "Annie, do you mind going ahead to the church early? I know Daryl's already there and he wanted to talk with you about something before the ceremony."

"Sure," Annie said, getting to her feet and she noted that everyone was smiling at her but she had no idea why.

She left the bedroom and headed downstairs, where there were even more people. People getting themselves dressed and ready, people making and eating breakfast, people coming in and out the door, carrying flowers or trays or boxes of glasses and plates. Annie saw Beth's brother, Shawn, holding a clipboard on the porch, talking with a man and a woman and they sounded like they were the caterers. Annie had just met Shawn that weekend but she liked him immediately. She thought he was pretty hilarious even if his sisters seemed to constantly roll their eyes at him and he had taken it upon himself to run things that day.

"A wedding present to them," he had explained and for someone who was so funny, he definitely had the air of someone who could run a tight ship if he had to.

"Annie, you heading to the church?" Shawn asked, stopping his conversation with the caterers when he saw her come outside.

"Yep," she nodded. "Daryl needs to talk to me."

"Take this with you," he said and there was a box by his feet. She went and picked it up, surprised at how light it was. When she opened it, she saw that it was filled with nothing but flower petals. "Can't throw rice anymore. Birds eat it all up and explode," he said once she looked up at him, curiously.

"Is that true?" Annie asked.

Shawn shrugged. "Word on the street."

Annie wondered what streets he walked down but she didn't ask and carrying the box, she headed down the steps and the long dirt drive.

The church wasn't that far away, just down the road, and it was a beautiful May day. Daryl and Beth couldn't have picked a better, prettier day to get married on. The sun was warm and the soft breeze that blew was still cool, white cotton ball puffs of clouds floated lazily in the sky and the birds chirped happily in the sky.

She had put her strawberry blonde hair back into a braid as she always wore it and a few strands blew loose, tickling her face as she hummed to herself and walked. She really liked where Daryl and Beth lived. A little town in the middle of nowhere in the openness of Georgia that seemed to stretch on forever. It was a completely different place that the mountains of Kentucky and she loved living in the mountains but she could see the appeal of this, too. She would never want to live in some big city or even a large town that had so many people. She liked this quietness of the country. She wondered if Daryl and Beth would ever let her visit them for a weekend that wasn't quite a crazy as this.

The church was a typical southern church. Square and white clapboard, simple and old. The front doors were open and she saw two women there that Annie recognized from the rehearsal dinner the night before, putting flowers on the ends of the pews. They looked when they saw her.

"Hi, Annie," one of them said, coming to her. Annie didn't remember her name but she knew she was Shawn's girlfriend. "Did Shawn have you bring that?"

Annie nodded and handed the box over. "Is Daryl here? I'm supposed to see him."

"He's this way," the other woman said with a smile and Annie followed after her.

Past the altar, there was a doorway that led to the back of the church. One closed door was the pastor's office and the woman knocked on that one. After a moment, a man with a scruffy beard and curly brown hair answered, wearing a black suit.

"Hey, Annie," the man smiled when he saw her. "Daryl's been waiting for you." He opened the door wider and Annie went in. "Daryl, Lori and me are going to get something to drink. You want anything?"

Daryl was standing in front of the full length mirror in the corner and he shook his head and the man left, closing the door once more behind him. He was wearing a black suit with a white button down shirt beneath that and a black tie. He hadn't cut his hair but somehow, he looked good with it longer anyway.

He turned when he saw her reflection behind him. "Well, how do I look?"

She grinned. "A lil' green," she said and he smirked. "How do I look, too?"

"Like you're goin' to a funeral instead of my weddin'," he teased back and she stuck her tongue out at him. "You look real nice, Annie," Daryl said.

"You look very nice, too," Annie said and then came to stand beside him. "Beth's lookin' real pretty already and she doesn' even got her dress on yet. Are you goin' to drop the ring?" She then asked.

"Why would I drop the ring?" Daryl asked, straightening his tie although it was already straight and he looked at her through the mirror.

Annie shrugged. "Everyone's teasin' you that you're so nervous and Beth's worried that you'll be so nervous, you'll shake and drop the ring."

Daryl's brow furrowed. "I ain't droppin' nothin'."

Annie grinned. She went and sat down on the small sofa against one of the office walls as Daryl continued fussing with himself as he looked into the mirror.

"Wanted to ask you somethin'," he then said, not looking at her.

"Shoot," she smiled at him and wanted to slap his hands away. His tie was straight and he needed to stop fussing with it.

He took a deep breath. "You wanna be my best man today?" He asked.

"Me?" Her eyebrows shot up at that. "But I'm not a man."

"Obviously," he smirked a little and then turned away from the mirror towards her. She looked at him and waited for him to say something else, a little confused. "I'm supposed to have someone stand up there on the altar with me who means somethin' to me. I've got a few friends and we've got our family but the more I've been thinkin' 'bout it, the more I've been thinkin' that I wan' you and no one else up there standin' with me."

Annie stood quickly. "Of course!" She exclaimed and he smiled just as she bounced to him and threw her arms around his shoulders in a hug. "What do I gotta do?" She asked, pulling back after a moment.

"Hold these," he said and reached into his inside jacket pocket, pulling out a small box and inside, there were his and Beth's wedding rings.

Annie looked at the bands for a moment before slapping the box shut and squeezing it tightly to her chest. "'m not gonna let anyone even look at 'em for too long," she promised and Daryl smirked, turning back towards the mirror.

This time, when his hands went to his tie again, Annie smacked them away.

…

The church was small but between his family and Beth's, the pews filled up. Just before the ceremony, he walked his Aunt Anne down the aisle, leading her to her seat in the front row and she smiled at him with tears in her eyes, pulling him down into a tight hug before he went to go stand and take his place on the altar beside Father Gabriel. Annie came to stand next to him, giving him a wide grin. He did his best to return it but the truth was, he was worried that if he smiled, he'd vomit.

He didn't know why he was so nervous. He was getting married. To Beth. He had been waiting for this for months now. Everything had gone according to plan. There hadn't been any catastrophes – and if there had been, everyone was hiding it from them. His family was here. He actually had a family to be here on his wedding day and he was marrying the girl of his dreams. Hell, he didn't even know he had dreams until he met Beth. He was more than ready to make this one real though. So why the hell was he nervous?

Daryl looked to everyone there – his family and Beth's family and their friends and he had invited his coworkers, too. They worked in a small office and him getting married was a big deal. He wanted them to be here for this and Beth had invited her piano students as well. And when Daryl looked out over everyone that had been invited, they all smiled back at him.

The music started then and he took a deep breath. He could do this. He was Daryl Dixon with Dixon, Harper and Sparrow blood. He wasn't supposed to be afraid.

Maggie came up the aisle first, wearing a green dress with a bouquet of purple and white tulips in her hand. She smiled at Daryl as she came to stand on the other side of the altar and he again, tried to smile, but his lips could barely twitch before he was looking back to the back of the church.

And there she was.

Her dress white and lace and flowers in her hair, a matching bouquet of tulips in her hand as her other arm looped through the arm of her dad standing next to her, she was beautiful. He tried to remind himself to breathe as everyone in the church stood and Beth and Hershel began walking down the aisle. Beth's eyes rested on him and never left and he was pretty sure he didn't even blink.

She gave him a smile and this time, Daryl was able to smile in return.

Once at the altar, Beth slipped her arm from Hershel's and Hershel looked at him, the man's eyes twinkling with unshed tears and he pulled Daryl into an embrace. Daryl knew everyone was looking at them – what else would they be looking at – but Daryl didn't even seem to notice any of them anymore. He and Beth stood together at the altar, facing one another. Beth had handed her flowers back to Maggie and now her hands held his and he gave them a squeeze. He needed them to hold onto.

Daryl looked at her and he wondered if she was nervous. Daryl looked at her and wanted to ask if she was absolutely sure that she actually wanted to marry him. Maybe that was why he was so nervous. No, it wasn't maybe. He knew that that's why he was so nervous. As they had gotten closer to the wedding, he kept waiting for Beth to just look at him one day and tell him that she didn't want to do this.

And the thing was, Daryl wouldn't blame her if she changed her mind.

He still couldn't believe that she had ever agreed to marry him in the first place. She was too good – inside and out – and she had had a good life for the most part. Daryl had spent the first half of his life, being beat up and being told that no one would ever love him and the second half of his life, drifting around and numb to everything. But then he met Beth and it was as if she had woken him up for the very first time. Ever since meeting Beth, he started to feel everything around him again but he knew the truth. He was still damaged goods and always would be and why would she want to tie herself to him for the rest of their lives?

As if reading his mind right then, Beth gave his hands a gentle squeeze and he looked at her as she smiled up at him. She was the prettiest thing he had ever seen and Father Gabriel liked to talk a lot so he knew this wasn't going to be a short ceremony but it didn't matter because soon enough, Beth would be his wife.

Honestly, Daryl was barely listening to anything the man was saying and when he felt something poke him in the back, he looked over his shoulder to see Annie with a grin, holding up the rings.

Oh, right.

He turned and took the rings from her and she kept grinning and he smiled a little in response before turning back towards Beth.

This time, as he recited his vows and slid the ring onto her finger, his hands didn't shake and his voice didn't tremble. He made sure that he slid that ring onto Beth's finger and not let her think for even one second that he would drop it. And once it was securely on her left third ring finger, he looked at her and she was beaming.

 _To have and to hold… for richer or poorer… in sickness and in health… all the days of my life._

Beth's voice was louder than his as she recited her vows to him and slid the ring onto his finger and he stared down at it. He was wearing a ring. A _wedding_ ring. He had a wife – almost – and he was a husband – almost.

The first time he saw her in the doughnut shop, trembling with a split lip, he had only seen him mom. Small and scared like Anne Dixon used to be, Daryl had looked at Beth and thought she was just like her. With some asshole who slapped her around because in her twisted mind, she loved him. And the times after that he saw her, she would just make him so angry because he thought, for some reason, that Beth was so much better than that. He didn't even know her but he became so angry at the idea of this girl being just like his mom.

Beth wasn't anything like Anne Dixon though. Daryl loved his mom – as much as a boy could love his mom while being so angry at her and hating her for never taking a stand against her husband and keeping her child safe. It didn't take him long to figure out that Beth wasn't like his mom. She was spirited and strong and sweet and kind and he didn't know exactly when it happened but he started to need to see her. When he went a day or a couple without seeing her or hearing her voice, he'd get antsy as if feeling life electricity coursing through his body. And he sure as hell didn't know when it happened but somewhere along the way, he fell in love with her. He had never been in love before but he didn't doubt for a second that what he felt towards Beth Greene was just that.

"And now, through the power vested in me, with God's Blessing and the state of Georgia, I pronounce you husband and wife. Daryl, you may kiss your bride," Father Gabriel beamed at him and Daryl looked at Beth and the way she was almost giggling, her entire being shining with her happiness.

Everyone was already clapping and cheering when Daryl finally stepped forward and he slid his hands onto her cheeks. He looked into her eyes for another moment more before he lowered his lips to hers and kissed her, feeling Beth's lips press back, her arms slipping around him.

His heart was pounding in his ears. He had done it. _They_ had done it. They were married now. This girl… she was his wife. For the first time in his life, Daryl had someone who was all his; someone who would never leave him.

For the first time in what felt like forever, Daryl wasn't alone anymore.

Ending the kiss and turning towards their family and friends, everyone was clapping and cheering still, louder now, and Daryl's smile came easier to his face this time.

Grasping Beth's hand, they stepped down from the altar and as they walked down the main aisle, Daryl felt people clapping him on the back in congratulations and he heard Beth laughing from beside him. They had gotten special permission from Father Gabriel beforehand and now, all of the wedding guests were throwing flower petals into the air as they passed, raining them down around them.

Shawn was already standing at the doors of the church, grinning as they neared him.

He had the sparrow's cage on the floor beside him – the sparrow that Daryl had gotten for Christmas, chirping – and he picked it up. "Ready?" He asked.

"Yes," Beth answered for them both and they stepped outside onto the top step.

Shawn stood beside him and Daryl and Beth watched as Shawn unlatched the little door and then held the cage up. Within seconds, the bird hopped to the opening and after another moment, it then flew out, chirping a few more times as if speaking with them before it flew away, further and further until it was nothing more than a speck in the sky before disappearing completely from their sight.

It had been Beth's idea. Daryl had loved her for getting him a sparrow as a gift and at first, he had wanted to keep it but eventually, he couldn't stand the thought of keeping a bird in a cage and Beth had suggested they let it free after their wedding.

"It'll be like having your Grandma Liv there," she had said.

And standing there on the church steps, a ring on his finger and Beth's hand in his, his grandma was definitely there with them that day.

The church began emptying out behind them, everyone crowding around them with hugs and kisses and more claps on the back.

Noah, their wedding photographer, appeared in the mob. "Let's get you and your families and wedding party back inside for a few pictures in the church," he said.

Daryl nodded and found Annie, pushing her back inside. He then found Aunt Anne and took her hand, pulling her back inside as well. Beth was already back inside the church with Maggie, standing on the altar, Maggie helping her adjust the flowers in her hair, and Annie went skipping up the aisle to join them.

Daryl never liked getting his picture taken – mainly because he didn't really like to smile. Even with Beth, when she was taking a picture, he usually just twitched his lips. And that's what he did today, too. He knew Noah was just doing his job and they had paid him to take pictures but it felt like it was never-ending.

Pictures of just Daryl and Beth. Pictures of Daryl and Beth with Maggie and Annie. Pictures with Maggie, Hershel, Glenn and Shawn and then pictures with Annie and Aunt Anne. And then pictures of both families all together. It seemed never-ending and by the end of it, Daryl wasn't even pretending to smile anymore.

"Can we go?" Shawn was the one to whine first. "I'm hungry and thirsty and I have to go to the bathroom!"

"Yes," Hershel spoke up. "I think we have enough here, Noah. We still have all night."

Daryl almost groaned at that and Beth looked up at him, smiling. He just frowned though. He didn't see anything to smile about. He knew this was going to be a long day but now, he wished it was possible to skip out on his own wedding reception.

"Come on," Beth smiled, slipping her arm through his. "Just think. There's fried chicken and banana cake waiting for us and I don't know about you but I am absolutely starving."

"I jus' wanna go to sleep," Daryl grumbled and she laughed softly.

She then stood in front of him, pressing her body against his and her arms slipped around his neck. She didn't seem to mind that they were standing right in front of a hanging crucifix. Daryl's own hands trailed down before coming to a rest on her hips. This woman, he almost smirked to himself as he looked at her with amazement and disbelief. This woman was his wife.

"Oh, even after we get through the reception tonight, you still don't get to do that," she said, her eyes twinkling, and Daryl felt himself smiling again.

…

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 **Thank you very much for reading and please take a moment to review to let me know what you think of the story.  
**


	6. Springtime - Part Two

**I love this story so much. I can't even explain how much and I hope you love it, too. I have a few more chapters planned for it. There's not really a smut scene in this chapter - just mentions of one. As I've said before, writing scenes like that are always so hard for me and I feel like I never do a great job of it and I just wasn't in that particular kind of mood to write one.**

* * *

…

 **Part Six.** Springtime – part two.

But that's exactly what they did.

After the reception on the farm that had gone into the night, Beth and Daryl finally decided to take their leave sometime around nine, both absolutely exhausted. They had ate and socialized with all of their guests and Beth had been dancing and now, she couldn't stop yawning and Daryl's frown seemed to be permanent on his face.

She saw Daryl sitting in a chair at a table beneath the canopy with a few of his cousins and she went to him, smiling as she saw baby RJ sleeping in his dad's arms, the baby's head resting heavily against Russ's chest and completely passed out with the bustle and excitement of the day.

"Hey," Beth smiled softly to Daryl. "You ready to go?" She asked.

He didn't even have to think about the question. He just stood up and put the can of Coke he was drinking from down on the table and taking her hand, he began to pull her away. Beth laughed and put her other hand on his shoulder, stopping him.

"Wait," she said, still laughing. "We have to say goodbye to everyone," she told him.

"What for?" His brow furrowed. "We're gonna see all of 'em again in the mornin'."

Beth just laughed again and pulling her hand from his, she turned back to the table. She was much better at remembering everyone's names than him. He admitted that he still got cousins mixed up with one another but Beth knew every one of their names and he listened as she said them all. He trailed after her as she first said goodnight to the cousins sitting at the table with him, Daryl shaking their hands, Ron getting up and hugging him, and then she moved through the rest of the reception, saying goodnight and thank you to everyone still there.

And most of the guests were. They had had catered food that spread out for an entire table and their banana wedding cake was almost all completely gone. They had gone with Shawn's laptop and speakers for music and then some of his family had brought instruments with them and had played a few songs. Beth loved Appalachian music and they gifted her with a concert of her very own.

Daryl didn't know how long the reception would go for but he really didn't care. He had had some family stay out at the cabin with him the night before but they had gone back today to get their stuff and were staying at the farm tonight so he and Beth could go back home and be by themselves. They were already making plans to all see one another the next morning here for a big breakfast before they had to head back to Kentucky.

Even Moseley was staying at the farm that night and the puppy was so preoccupied with all of the kids that were playing with him, he didn't even notice when Beth tried to tell him goodnight.

When they finally got into their car, Daryl let out a heavy sigh and then yawned. Beth yawned herself and rested her head on the seat's headrest behind her, turning it towards him. She gave him a tired smile and he looked at her for a moment. The flowers were gone from her head, split between Annie and one of his other cousins, Hattie, as a present, and her hair had lost a little bit of their curls from that morning but she was still the prettiest thing in this world. He almost wanted to smirk because holy shit, this girl was his wife.

"Let's go home," she said after a quiet minute.

"You gonna let me sleep?" He asked as he turned the key in the ignition.

"Yes," she laughed softly. "And I'll be sleeping right there next to you."

Daryl smirked a little to himself as he drove them away from the farm and headed through town. It was a small town and even though there was a university, it was still a quiet town, and by nine o'clock that evening, most of the stores were closed for the night and most people were home for the night.

The woods were dark and their cabin was black as Daryl drove up to it. Maggie had put some food in the backseat for them to take and Daryl grabbed the tray of food as Beth took the plate of banana cake slices and they walked up the front steps, Beth holding up a bit of her dress so she didn't trip over the hem.

"Stay out here," Daryl said after unlocking the door and Beth smiled because she knew exactly what he was planning to do. He took the tray of food inside and then came back for the plate of cake and finally, he came back out and she still stood there, now almost giggling with giddiness.

He gave her a little smirk as he bent down, one arm sliding under her knees and the other winding around her back, and he easily lifted her in his arms. She couldn't stop smiling and Daryl looked at her, his own smile forming across his lips, as he carried her over the threshold into their house. He held her for a moment longer, almost as if he didn't want to put her down just yet, and it wasn't as if Beth minded at all. She squeezed her arms around him and pressed a cheek to his cheek. Finally, Daryl slowly set her back down on her feet.

"Want me to start a fire?" He asked because even though it was May, the night and their cabin were still chilly.

Beth just smiled and shook her head. "That's alright. I'd rather just go upstairs and get beneath the covers."

He smirked a little at that, going to their front door to lock it. "You gonna let me sleep?" He asked.

"Yes," she laughed. She took the tray of food and went to find room for it in their refrigerator. She was already imagining eating cold fried chicken and pieces of their wedding cake in bed with Daryl tomorrow. "It's been an exhausting day and it really hit me when I was dancing tonight. All of the planning and organizing it takes to get married, I can tell you one thing. I'm never getting married again."

Daryl actually broke into a little smile at that and Beth smiled, too.

She headed up the stairs, holding her dress up so she wouldn't trip over the hem, and Daryl followed behind. He moved to turn on the lamp on the table beside the bed and Beth went to the dresser, looking at her reflection in the mirror hanging over it. She took out the pins that were holding some locks of hair back as Daryl sat down on the bed to take off his shoes and tie. Beth then came to him and with her hair pulled over one shoulder, turned to give him her back. He didn't need her to explain. He stood up and carefully took the delicate zipper and brought it down.

"There are hooks, too," she said, smiling at him from over her shoulder.

Daryl saw and undid those, too, but the dress still didn't move. "What the hell?"

She laughed. "The tailor had put in little straps, too, to keep it snug," Beth explained. She brought her hand behind and gestured to the straps near the top and bottom of the zipper. "Just unhook those, too."

Daryl grumbled about stupid women's clothes and finally, once everything was done, the dress loosened enough for Beth to pull it down her body and step out of it. She was wearing a simple white bra and a pair of dark blue underwear and Daryl saw that across her butt, in white letters, it said _Mrs. Dixon_.

"Where'd you get those?" He asked, his throat feeling dry all of a sudden.

"Maggie," Beth smiled. "My something new and something blue."

Daryl didn't know what that meant but all he knew was his last name across his new wife's ass was probably the sexiest thing he had ever seen; a thousand times more than the pictures of naked women Merle had always had magazines of lying around.

Beth picked up her dress and as gently as she would a baby, she went and draped it over the chair in the corner of the room. She let out a yawn and she lifted her hand to cover her mouth, going back to the dresser. Daryl began unbuttoning his shirt and taking off his pants. As he stripped down to his boxers and white undershirt, Beth took off her bra and then slipped on an oversized tee-shirt. They met on opposite sides of the bed – Daryl on the left and Beth on the right – and they slipped between the covers together.

The instant his head found the pillow, he let out a heavy, contented sigh and Beth giggled from beside him. He turned his head and looked at her and she was lying on her side, turned in his direction, giving him a soft, amused smile.

"I take it you never want to get married again either?" She asked.

He smirked a little. "Hell, never imagined myself gettin' married one time. Couldn' imagine findin' another girl who would put up with me the way you do if this thing 'tween us doesn't work out."

"This thing?" She asked with a raised eyebrow and he just smirked.

"You know what I mean," he said.

"Do I?" She teased and she was almost giggling again.

"You know I'm crazy 'bout you," he then said as if, after everything, there was still a possibility that she didn't actually know that.

Beth smiled and moved closer to him. He lifted his arm and her head found a resting place on his chest as his arm wound around her shoulders. She nestled down and got comfortable and made sure that she was covered completely with the blankets.

Everything was quiet. Even the crickets outside and the fluttering of bats wings and the hooting of owls seemed to have fallen silent. The only sound either could hear was one another's steady breathing.

"Are you sure 'bout not goin' on a honeymoon?" Daryl asked suddenly, momentarily surprising her because she thought he had already fallen asleep.

She moved her head, tilting it upwards so she could look at him and he looked down to her face. "Of course I am," she said with a small smile. "I'd much rather just stay around here and save our money. We'll go camping and that sounds perfect to me."

Daryl didn't say anything else and he looked at her for another moment before his eyes trailed back up towards the ceiling. His thumb rubbed back and forth on her shoulder and she knew he was thinking and would have something else to say in a few minutes. Daryl was always sure to think through and choose his words carefully. He only spoke quickly when he was angry and words flew from his mouth but Beth had known this man for a little over a year now and she had only seen him truly angry just a few times.

It was definitely something he made a conscious effort to not be too often.

They had made the decision to not go on a honeymoon. Abraham, Daryl's boss, had asked him about it when Daryl had only put in for three days of vacation but Daryl had just shrugged and said that he was just going to stick around here. He would get some hunting done and there were plenty of things to do around the cabin. There were places Beth wanted to go – of course there were – but right now, saving money was more important than seeing the Grand Canyon or the Pacific Ocean. Daryl had told her that they had enough money but even though they did, Beth didn't want to go blowing it on a week-long trip. She'd much rather use their saved money on getting a bathtub for the bathroom. Right now, there was just a stand-up shower and Beth missed taking baths. Shaving her legs in that shower was a pain in the butt, too.

"I don't go back to work 'til Thursday," Daryl spoke again. "We could go up to Atlanta for a day or somethin' like that."

Beth smiled faintly, her eyes drifting closed. "You hate Atlanta," she reminded him.

"Don't hate you though," he murmured and she laughed softly before sleep completely claimed her and she felt as if she was asleep within a second.

…

Daryl woke and it was still dark outside. With the blackness of night, he figured it was just past midnight. Beth's head was still on his chest, sleeping peacefully, and he really had to pee. He laid there for a moment, wondering if he could hold it but he knew he couldn't. He had had four cans of Coke at the reception.

He moved slowly so not to wake Beth but she was completely out, the long wedding day having absolutely wiped her out, and she didn't even stir as he carefully moved her aside so he could slip out of the bed. The cabin was pitch black at night – even when one's eyes were adjusted to the darkness – and Beth had put a nightlight at the top of the stairs and one at the bottom of the stairs so they wouldn't fall down the stairs in the middle of the night and kill themselves on the way to the bathroom.

It was a little weird not having Moseley here for the night. The puppy slept on their bed with them and any time he or Beth got up to go downstairs to the cabin's one bathroom, he always came with them, flopping down the stairs on their heels. Without the little Beagle there, it was quiet except for that one stair that always creaked. Besides that, it was as if the rest of the world had just sort of fallen away.

Coming out of the bathroom once done, he saw that he wasn't the only one awake now. Beth was in the kitchen, the light above the sink flipped on, and she was getting two forks from the drawer.

"Whatcha doin'?" He asked, yawning and rubbing the heel of his hand in his eye.

Beth gave him a little, tired smile. "Now that we're married, you're going to be peeing with the door open?" She asked.

The tips of his ears turned red. "You weren't supposed to be awake," he mumbled. "What _are_ you doing up? I left you and you could have been passed for bein' dead."

"I got hungry," Beth said. "Help me carry this," she then said, holding the plate of cake out to him and he could have asked what the hell she was doing but instead, he just took the plate and followed her back up the stairs.

They sat in bed, eating slices of banana cake and her hair was annoying her because every few minutes, she would lift her hand to tuck a strand of it behind her ear. And every time she lifted her hand, he couldn't help but look at the ring on her finger. The matching ring he wore on his own finger. His eyes kept going to her ring and then his ring and he just wanted to smirk and shake his head over the whole thing. He was married now and he was a husband and he had a wife and he kept waiting to wake up and find himself back in his apartment and working the night shift at the warehouse and not talking to anyone or doing much of anything with his life.

"Should we be havin' sex?" He asked, breaking the comfortable silence.

Beth laughed, putting her hand over her mouth as she chewed on her piece of cake. "Maggie was telling me that she and Glenn didn't have sex their first night of being married," she said once she had swallowed. "And your cousins were telling me some very interesting stories about their own wedding nights."

Daryl paused to swallow his own mouthful. "If you tell me, am I gonna be able to look at my cousins the same way?"

Beth laughed again. "Most of the stories begin with a lot of alcohol at the reception and failure to perform later."

Daryl smirked a little at that, wondering which of his cousins that could refer to. Probably all of them. That was definitely something Beth wouldn't have in common with other cousins in his family though. Daryl didn't drink. He refused. His old man had drank and Merle had drank and Daryl witnessed what too much alcohol did to a person. Of course, Will Dixon was an asshole without the need of alcohol aiding him but the countless drinks he had definitely made him even worse. He never wanted to be drunk and he never wanted Beth to see him drunk because even after all of this time and after everything good that had happened in his life, Daryl was still so scared that there was a part of him who was just like Will Dixon, dormant inside of him, just waiting for something to happen to wake him up.

Beth let out another yawn and then she laughed a little. "How about, we sleep some more and then tomorrow, before we go to the farm for breakfast?" She suggested.

Daryl couldn't help but smile a little. There was something funny to him about his wife making a schedule for them to have sex on their wedding night. He had seen plenty of movies and according to Hollywood, as soon as two people were married, they went at it like rabbits the whole night. And it wasn't like he didn't like having sex with Beth. Being with her like that was his favorite thing in the world. It was just that he was _really_ tired, still, and he was relieved Beth obviously felt the same.

"That'll work," he agreed with a single nod of his head and she smiled at him.

They set the cake and their forks on the bedside table before turning off the lamp and lying down once more.

She leaned in and brushed her lips across his. "Good night," she said in a whisper. "I love you."

Daryl's arm found its way around her shoulders, holding her close as her head, once again, rested on his chest. He wondered if she didn't like her pillow or if she just found his chest to be that comfortable. Not that it mattered to him either way. He had found out right away that Beth was a cuddler and liked sleeping close to him and there wasn't a single part of him that hated it.

"Love you, too," he murmured back and Beth nestled closer to him and within minutes, they were both back asleep.

And hours later, when he woke up to Beth's lips brush and he could feel the warm morning sun filling the room, it took him just another second to fully wake himself up and another second to roll Beth beneath him.

…

The farm was absolutely packed with people who had slept there the night before but when Beth and Daryl arrived there for breakfast around nine, everyone was already awake. Some of them were nursing hangovers, drinking water and cringing because the kids were being too loud too early in the morning and others were in the kitchen, making enough breakfast for the small army on the Greene farm.

"You look well-rested," Glenn grinned at them when they entered the kitchen.

"Yeah," Daryl said and that was all he said as he took the cup of coffee Clementine was handing out for him.

Beth was already talking with Maggie, one of the babies – Albie – having been passed into her arms, and the two sisters were giggling over something. Probably that morning and their first time as husband and wife. Beth told Maggie just about everything and in return, Beth knew just about everything about Maggie and Glenn. Beth would tell Daryl some things but there were just things that a man never wanted to hear and one of those things was another man's sex life with his wife. He wondered what Beth was telling her and if Maggie told Glenn things. How much did Glenn know about their sex life? If anything.

"What kind of eggs you want, Daryl?" Another of his cousins, Sandy, asked, standing at the stove and holding a flipper.

"Whatever's easier," he said.

Feeling a tugging on his jeans, he looked down and saw one of the littlest of the kids pulling on his leg, looking up at him with a grin spread behind his pacifier. Tyler, one of his cousin Lucy's kids. He wasn't too sure what the kid wanted but Daryl bent down and lifted the boy up in one of his arms. And that seemed to be all Tyler wanted because the kid just kept smiling and didn't ask for anything else.

"You and Beth gonna have any of your own?" Clementine asked with a sly smile.

"Ease off, woman. Jus' got myself married yesterday," Daryl said with a grumble and she laughed.

The truth was, yeah, he and Beth were going to have kids. He didn't know how many but he knew it was something they both wanted. And he had no idea where this feeling of wanting his own kids came from because just last year, he would have said hell no to passing the Dixon blood onto anyone. But not only did he meet his family, he met Beth, too, and within a year, his entire life changed for the better and he had people around him who thought that a Dixon wasn't a bad thing at all.

He had never really minded kids and surprisingly, he was always pretty comfortable with them. Whenever he went to see Rick, little Judith Grimes was always clambering all over him, and he never minded. The kid cracked him up with how clumsy she was. And then, meeting his cousins and being around all of their little kids, it started to get him thinking that maybe having a kid of his own wasn't as crazy or stupid as he had always thought.

And he knew – before they even talked about it – that Beth wanted her own babies. That girl was meant to be a mom. She was young still – just twenty-three – but he wasn't getting any younger and he wanted to have kids before he got too old himself – even though Beth told him more than once that forty wasn't old. He admitted to her that he wanted to have a baby as soon as they could and Beth hadn't been able to agree more.

Just that morning, in between thrusts, he had grunted in her ear that he couldn't wait to get a baby in her and Beth had whimpered, squeezing around him, arching into him, his words turning her on even more.

There was a lot to think about. The cabin was small with just a lofted bedroom and he had just bought the place. That cabin had been his dream for so long. Living in the woods, not close to anyone else or relying on anyone else, and he wasn't ready to sell it and move somewhere else. They'd have to make some renovations when Beth got pregnant so they'd have room for anyone and everything but he knew he was thinking way too ahead right now.

At the moment, he was just going to get used to being a husband.

Sandy handed him a plate of scrambled eggs and sausage links and she took Tyler from his arms so he could eat. He remained leaning against the counter and ate his breakfast as he watched family coming into the kitchen and going and the back door opened, Hershel stepping inside from having been out in the barn. He smiled when he saw Daryl there and then his eyes found Clementine.

"I think Annie is going to try and steal one of my horses to take back with her," he chuckled with amusement as a cup of coffee was handed to him.

"If she's bein' a bother, you just lemme know, Hershel," Clementine said.

"Oh, not at all," Hershel shook his head, still smiling. "The horses are loving all of the attention she's giving them." He then looked to Daryl. "How you doing, son?" He asked, leaning against the counter beside him.

Daryl finished chewing and swallowed before answering. "Good," he nodded.

"You look rested," Hershel then said with an amused smile and twinkle in his eye.

Daryl didn't say anything and didn't even feel the tips of his ears turn red as if embarrassed. There was nothing to be embarrassed about. He had gotten a good night's sleep and he and Beth had had a round of great sex that morning. He just ate another forkful of eggs and looked to Hershel, giving the man a shrug.

"Daddy," Beth came up to where Hershel and Daryl stood, her arms now free of Albie. "Where's Moseley?" She asked.

Hershel smiled, looking to Daryl. "Your Aunt Anne was sneaking him pieces of chicken last night and sausage this morning. I don't think he's leaving her side."

Daryl smirked and Beth turned to go find their puppy and they heard Clementine sigh heavily, saying "This family," under her breath with a shake of her head.

…

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 **Thank you so much for reading and if you read, please take a moment to review! It means the world to me!**


	7. Third of July

**I have the next three chapters planned so I think this story will be ten chapters. For some reason, this chapter took me longer than it usually takes to write so if you read, please review. It would really mean a lot to know what you think of this chapter/story. I just want to make sure I didn't waste my time with this.**

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…

 **Part Seven.** Third of July.

Daryl's boss, Abraham, had an annual party at his house every 3rd of July and the entire office was invited and though Abraham didn't exactly say it was, it seemed to be known amongst the others in the office that attendance wasn't optional.

Beth had been excited when Daryl came home from work and told her about it.

"Does he need us to bring anything?" Beth asked almost immediately.

"How would I know?" Daryl asked with a furrowed brow before heading to the cabinet to get a glass for himself.

"You have to ask," Beth said and then shook her head. "I'll make something. A dessert. A party can never have too many desserts. And something patriotic, too."

"Exactly what the war was ' bout. Fightin' for the freedom to make patriotic desserts," Daryl smirked a little, filling the glass with water from the sink tap.

Beth just gave him a look and took her cookbook down from the shelf, flipping to the back section where the dessert recipes were kept. "There's this ridiculously easy thing I could make. I need Twinkies, strawberry glaze, Cool-Whip and blueberries."

"You don't gotta go crazy. It's jus' a party at Abraham's," he told her.

"He's your _boss_ ," Beth emphasized to him as if he had somehow forgotten that.

Daryl didn't say anything else about it. He may have only been married to Beth for less than two months but he had known her for over a year before that and he knew that this was how Beth was. She was a southern girl through and through, raised on manners and keeping one's reputation respectable and he didn't have to ask her further to know that Beth would say that her dead mama would roll over in her grave if she showed up at her host's house without bringing something in return and how dare Daryl even suggest something otherwise.

It was a hot Georgia summer day and Beth had made homemade chicken salad for dinner. She had also bought fresh croissants from the store that morning and they sat outside on their front porch, eating their sandwiches with Moseley begging at their feet for a few scraps. The birds were eating their evening meal, flying around the several bird feeders in a frenzy of flapping wings. The cicadas were singing and there was a bullfrog who lived on the creek bank right near their house and they could hear his deep bellows every evening.

They wouldn't stay out long. The mosquitoes came in like a blanket as the sun sank and they didn't want to get eaten alive but for now, they sat on the porch swing that Daryl had put up a few months earlier – at the start of spring – and enjoyed the quiet and solitude of the woods.

"How was work?" Beth asked, turning more towards him.

"Was a'right," he shrugged. "Tara always says that the job would be better if we didn't have customers to deal with and I finally get what she means. Some of 'em are jus' idiots and blame me if they buy somethin' wrong. I give 'em what they want. Not what they need. That ain't my job."

Beth smiled at that and she lifted a hand to the back of his neck, beginning to rub it. Daryl's head almost instantly fell forward and he couldn't bite back a quiet moan.

"How were your lessons today?" Daryl asked her as she kept rubbing.

"Good," she smiled. "Would you mind if I have a recital here?" She then asked.

"Why would I mind that?" He turned his head to look at her.

"Well, it'd be all of the students and their parents and it might get a little crowded. I know how you feel about people," she said and his lips twitched in a little smirk. "I just think it'd be something nice to do to show off how well all of the kids are coming along. They could play and then we could have a little reception for them afterwards. Finger foods and punch and stuff like that. I think the kids would be excited to play for everyone."

"Whatever you want," Daryl said and he reached back, taking Beth's hand from his neck and with it in his hand, he held onto it.

 _Whatever you want_ seemed to have become the motto of their wedding and though Beth wasn't planning on testing him with just how much he was willing to do for her, whenever he said it, it did make her smile each time.

She leaned into him now and kissed his cheek, near the corner of his mouth. Daryl leaned into her then as if a kitten looking for more affection and Beth smiled, resting her forehead against his and after a moment, he slipped it down, pressing his face into her neck. He did that often and in fact, it was one of the first things he had ever done with her. He just pressed his face to her neck and inhaled her deeply; as if he was drawing strength from her scent.

She wasn't entirely too sure why he did it; only knowing that she loved when he did.

They finished their sandwiches and headed back instead before the mosquitoes could come. Daryl went to the counter to make him another sandwich and Beth took her cookbook to the couch, sitting down and beginning to study the dessert section. It was a quiet night as it always was and it was just how they preferred it to be.

Daryl sat beside her and he turned on the television. They hardly watched any television but each weeknight, Daryl liked to watch the local evening news – though Beth honestly found it to be all so depressing and she would much rather live in ignorance – and then he usually watched at least one half-hour program on the National Geographic channel. It was the only station Daryl paid extra for each month and he said he wanted to get his money's worth but Beth knew that he genuinely enjoyed the programs; of watching and learning about the animals and countries of the world. She remembered how he had tried to hide his enthusiasm when the network ran a five-night program of the different terrains and area of Russia.

She had already bought him a book for Christmas on the flora and fauna of Siberia.

She knew what some thought of her husband and those who did think it, it was only because they didn't know him. They saw him as nothing more than some backwoodsman redneck. They had no idea that Daryl was one of the most intelligent people she had ever met. She knew school had never been his thing but he was smart in other ways. He could track an animal down for a mile and find it. He knew which plants were safe and which ones were poisonous or caused itchiness or sickness. He knew about all of the animals in the area and that didn't even cover all of the knowledge he had on birds.

She sat on the couch sideways and even with the summer heat outside and the socks she wore, her feet always seemed to be cold and as she read through her cookbook, she burrowed her feet beneath Daryl's thigh in an attempt to warm them once again. Moseley was lying on the rug in front of them, chewing on one of his rawhide bones, Daryl was watching a program about grizzly bears in Alaska and Beth turned a page in her book, looking over the recipe for a cherry cake with buttercream frosting.

Daryl had asked her once if she would ever get bored with him and Beth had blinked at him as if she hadn't understood what he was asking. Daryl was a quiet man who wanted a quiet life and with Beth being younger than him – just in her early twenties – maybe he thought that she would want to go out with friends and party every night.

But Beth hadn't been that way even in college. Her friends would go out or throw little parties at their apartments and Beth would go occasionally but for the most part, Beth didn't really participate. Her friends were drinkers and she wasn't and for so much of her life – as everyone around her acted according to their age – Beth just never felt like she had much in common with any of them. She liked her friends but she always felt as if she was ready to move on.

She didn't care how old she was or how boring her friends would consider them. Spending her evenings with her husband, quiet like this, Beth couldn't ask for anything more. To her, this was as perfect as life got.

Besides, she and Daryl were trying to get pregnant and depending on how quickly that could happen, they should enjoy all of this quiet when they still had it.

"What about this one?" Beth asked, sitting up and sliding the book into Daryl's lap so he could see a picture of the cherry cake.

Daryl looked down at it for a moment and then nodded his head once before turning his head to her. "We'll go and get you some cherries at the store," he said.

"We don't need them. I have some canned cherries in my parent's basement," she said and Daryl smiled because even though a jar of cherries from the store wouldn't cost them their home, she knew how Daryl was. He liked to be self-sufficient and he liked to be able to take care of himself. "Maybe we can plant our very own cherry tree," she then mused out loud as she settled back against her pillow and even though she decided to make the cherry cake for Abraham's party, she kept looking through the desserts.

"Apple tree, too," Daryl added, his eyes back on the bear program and Beth smiled to herself.

…

They didn't have sex every night but more nights than not, either Daryl reached for her or Beth reached for him and their bodies met with deep kisses and wandering hands. They wanted a baby. Both agreed they wanted a baby and they wanted one soon. When she had told Maggie, Maggie had looked at her as if she didn't quite understand. Beth and Daryl had just gotten married. Didn't they want time to enjoy it being just them for a while?

And Beth knew her sister probably wouldn't be the only one to think that and Beth could see their point but at the same time, she had fallen in love with a man and this was the man she wanted to have a family with. She had always wanted to be a mother and Daryl wanted to have a _good_ family for himself and put the curse and nightmares of his father finally to rest.

Being together wasn't just about making a baby though. When they had sex together, it wasn't the only thought on their mind. They made sure that thought didn't consume them and they made sure the other knew that. They loved one another and they loved having sex with one another. That's what it really was all about and it would always be about that.

She was on her hands and knees in the middle of the bed and his hands were gripping her hips as he thrust in and out of her from behind. After a few times and trying things, it was both discovered that this was one of their favorite positions. He could always reach so deeply inside of her from this position and she always gripped the pillow with her hands and came with a broken cry of his name.

And afterwards, as they laid there, both trying to catch their breath once again, Beth couldn't help but clench herself as if that would help keep everything inside.

Daryl turned his head on the pillow to look at the clock on the table beside the bed and then he sat up, bringing the covers that had been pushed to the foot of the bed up once more and draping them over both of them. He laid back down, this time, on his side facing her and facing him on her side, she gave him a soft smile.

He stared at her and didn't say anything and it used to make her so nervous because she was never too sure what to do or what to say when he did that. She had never had anyone stare at her with such silent intensity as Daryl did. He stared at her like she was his answer to every question he could ever have in this world. It still overwhelmed her sometimes – the way he looked at her and she wondered if a man had ever loved someone more the way her husband loved her.

He didn't tell her he loved her often. If she said it, he always responded but he rarely was the first to say those words. But it never mattered to Beth because Daryl looked at her like this and she knew. How could she possibly not know that he loved her?

She wondered what he thought about when he stared at her like that.

She didn't ask though. Instead, she just leaned in and rested a hand on his cheek before her lips touched his. The kiss was light and soft and lasted for only a few seconds but it still made her heart thump in her chest.

His arm went over her hip and tugged her in closer to him, as close as they could be, and her head rested on his pillow, their faces so close together, their noses nearly touched. She smiled faintly at him again and Daryl still stared intently into her eyes.

"I love you," she whispered to him as if the night demanded a quiet voice.

Daryl leaned in and affectionately brushed his nose against hers. "I love you, too," he murmured back and she nearly shivered as his fingertips brushed up and down her back, following the path of her spine, and she tried to move in as close to him as she could be. His strong arm wrapped around her and held her close, bringing the covers up over her bare shoulder.

And even though she knew he loved her with everything he had inside of him, Beth still smiled every single time Daryl told her he loved her. She wondered if she would always smile.

…

They had been married since May. Since then, they had been to church and grocery shopping and hardware store shopping for a new bathtub and at her daddy's every Saturday for movie night and yet, this was the first place they were going with other people they knew being there, too, and they would be Mr. and Mrs. Dixon.

Daryl parked the pickup truck on the street down a bit from Abraham's house since there were other parties at other houses on the street that same day and the block was filling up. He got out, telling Beth to hang on, and he then walked around to her door and opened it for her.

"Thank you," she smiled as she slipped out carefully, the cake container firm in her hands, and Daryl slammed the door behind her and made sure the truck was locked.

"Wan' me to carry that?" He asked as they began heading up the sidewalk towards Abraham's ranch style house.

"Nope," she shook her head. "I don't want anyone to think you baked this instead of me," she teased and he just smirked. "This is a nice neighborhood," she then observed as they passed brick ranches with square yards and tidy landscaping.

"Too many people," Daryl said and she laughed softly. He then looked to her. "You wanna live in a neighborhood like this?"

"Not even remotely," she shook her head. "Too many people," she then giggled.

His lips twitched in a smile and in a rare display of open affection, he took his arm and dropped it around her shoulders. In Abraham's front yard, there was a sprinkler and a few kids running through it, yelling and screeching. The garage door was open and inside the garage, tables had been set up with tablecloths with American flags printed on them for people to sit at and there was another table with bowls of food – chips and pretzels and different salads – set up with stacks of paper plates and cups.

Daryl's arm left her shoulders but he then took her hand, leading her over to two females standing at one of the coolers, debating which beer would be the best.

"Daryl!" Tara exclaimed when she saw them approach. "Hey!" She held out her fist and Daryl bumped it back with his own. "Hi, Beth!"

"Hi, Tara," Beth smiled warmly at Daryl's coworker. She had been the one to train Daryl in his warehouse job and even though Abraham was the manager, everyone knew that Tara was the one who kept the office running for the most part. She had also been a gust at their wedding – as all of Daryl's coworkers had been.

"You remember Denise, my girlfriend?" Tara brought the other woman into the conversation with a hand on her back.

"Hello again," Denise smiled as she pushed her glasses up.

"It's nice to see you again," Beth smiled at her. "Do you know where Abraham or his wife is? I brought a cake and I don't want to put it down somewhere without speaking with them about it first."

"God, you are so good at that kind of thing," Tara said, shaking her head as if in awe. She then looked to Denise. "We never bring anything."

Denise shrugged. "Our company more than makes up for it," she smiled and Tara snorted with laughter.

"Abraham's in the backyard and Gloria's in the kitchen. And everyone else is just kind of scattered around," Tara told them.

After saying that they would come back to talk with them in a little bit, Daryl and Beth went through the back door of the garage that led into the backyard and just as Tara had said, Abraham was standing at the grill on the patio, a cigar in his mouth. There were more tables scattered about and most of the party was back here. There was music coming from somewhere, Bruce Springsteen playing.

"Daryl! Beth!" Abraham shouted, spotting them almost immediately.

Daryl supposed it'd be hard to miss Beth though. The girl didn't tan. She burned and to assure that didn't happen, she lathered herself in suntan lotion. She was probably the whitest, palest girl in the whole state of Georgia in July. Her blond hair was braided back and pinned around her head and she wore a patriotic blue dress. Daryl was just in jeans and a black tee-shirt.

"Hi, Abraham," Beth smiled at him as they came to him on the patio. "I've made a cherry cake. I hope that's alright. I didn't want us to show up empty-handed," she then said, holding up the cake plate in her hands.

"Homemade?" Abraham said as he looked at the cake through the plastic lid, the man practically already licking his lips.

"Of course," Beth said.

"Hell, you leave that cake with me. I'll eat it all myself," he said and she laughed a little before she realized that he was completely serious.

He took the cake from her hands and set it down on the ground next to him. There was a man standing near him with his black hair cut into an actual mullet.

"This is one of my old army buddies, Eugene. Eugene, this is Daryl Dixon. He works in my warehouse and this is his wife, Beth," Abraham made the introductions.

"Hey," Daryl grunted.

"Hi," Beth was much more polite and she smiled and held out her hand for him to shake and Daryl didn't know why but he didn't think he wanted this man touching his wife's hand. There was just something about the guy and the way he was staring at Beth. He didn't seem to care that much that Daryl was her husband and that he was standing right next to her.

Too late though because Eugene reached his hand out and took hold of Beth's.

"It is a pleasure to meet a beautiful woman such as yourself," he said in an almost monotone voice. "You are by far the hottest woman in attendance at this celebration of our country's 240th year of freedom."

Daryl frowned and Beth kept smiling as she slowly pulled her hand from his.

"Knock it off, Eugene," Abraham told him. "Go hit on Tara and Denise again." He then looked back to Daryl and Beth, grinning once more. "So, what'll it be? I got burgers and chicken and there's fixings in the garage and the beer's in there, too."

After loading their plates with burgers, pasta salad and potato chips, and grabbing sodas, they sat down at one of the picnic tables in the backyard with Tara and Denise, Spencer, another of Daryl's coworkers, and his girlfriend, Jen. Spencer and Jen had a kid together – a little daughter, Harper – and Beth thought she was the cutest thing she had ever seen. She spent most of her time, instead of eating, playing patty-cake with Harper.

Tara and Spencer talked work, complaining about customers and some new process that GE was implementing with their paperwork and Daryl just wanted to smirk at himself because not only could he follow the conversation and know exactly what the hell they were talking about but that he agreed and had his own opinions, too. Just two years ago, he wouldn't recognize this guy he was now. In charge of the warehouse with a wife and his own place in the woods.

Daryl tried not to think this too often but sometimes he couldn't help it. Sometimes, he thought his life was pretty damn perfect.

"Daryl!"

Daryl turned and actually smiled when he saw Oscar coming through the garage and heading his way. Oscar and him had worked nights in the warehouse together before Daryl had been promoted. Oscar still worked nights but they hardly saw one another anymore. The last time Daryl saw him was at the wedding in May.

Daryl stood up to greet him and before he could stop him, Oscar embraced him in a near bone-crushing hug. Beth then stood up and Oscar gave her the same hug, Beth giggling and hugging him back.

"Save us a spot," Oscar said and he and his wife, Eleanor, went to go get some food.

"She is just so adorable," Beth commented as they sat down once again and Harper was feeding herself potato chips from Spencer's plate.

"She's a spoiled little princess," Jen said but she said it with a smile. "Are you two going to have any children?" She then asked, looking to Beth.

Spencer elbowed her in the side and then looked to Daryl. "Sorry. She really just says whatever the hell she's thinking."

Jen gave him a frown. "It's a perfectly understandable question, asking two _married_ people if they are going to have children."

Spencer rolled his eyes and took a big bite of his burger.

"You could just marry her," Tara said to him.

"But then what the hell would she have to bitch about?" Spencer retorted.

Jen ignored him and looked to Beth. "I'm sorry if I insulted-"

"Not at all," Beth was quick to shake her head. "And yes. Daryl and I definitely want to have children. We're actually already trying."

"Alright, Daryl," Tara grinned, slapping a hand on his shoulder, and the tips of Daryl's ears turned red as he busied himself with eating his pasta salad.

"Would Harper like piano lessons, do you think?" Beth asked, swiftly switching the subject so not to embarrass Daryl any further. "I give piano lessons and my youngest is almost four so it's a bit of a challenge just because she has no attention span but she's already catching onto the scales and _Hot Cross Buns_."

"You teach piano?" Jen asked, perking up a bit at that.

"I told you she does," Spencer said and Jen, once again, ignored him.

"You know, I read in one of my parenting magazines that a child who shows an interest in a musical instrument at a young age has a higher level of intelligence," Jen said. "Do you think we could get her started?"

"She might be a little too young but maybe in another year or so," Beth said.

Oscar and Eleanor returned to the table with their food and Oscar plopped down across from Daryl. The two immediately began talking about the warehouse and Daryl didn't know what it was because he had other coworkers here that he liked but with Oscar there, he felt a bit more relaxed at being at this glorified work function. Maybe it was because Daryl thought that he and Oscar were on the same level. It didn't matter that Daryl was now in charge of the warehouse. Both he and Oscar were warehouse guys and had never worked in an office in their lives.

True to his word, Abraham kept the cherry cake for himself but there was a table of other desserts and Daryl and Beth helped themselves to pieces of chocolate cake with fresh raspberries. Kids were running around with sparklers and when it got dark enough, everyone, coated in bug spray, found themselves spots on the grass, Daryl sitting himself down with Beth sitting in front of him, cradled between his legs, her back against his chest. Abraham's house was right by the high school football field were fireworks were shot off on both the third and fourth and that night, they watched the display while Bruce Springsteen kept playing in the background.

Tomorrow, they would go to the farm for another barbecue and to witness Shawn try not to blow himself up as he set off fireworks and tomorrow night, Daryl would make sure they did this, too. Him sitting with Beth sitting between his legs, his arms wrapped around her and her hair tickling his face. No matter what the holiday was, he couldn't imagine celebrating it in a better way.

…

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 **Thank you so much for reading and please comment!**


	8. Dog Days of Summer

**There is something about this story. I don't know what it is but I just love it. I love Daryl and Beth in it. Thank you so much to everyone who has been reading and reviewing and loving it, too. Some were requesting we see Annie again so here we go!**

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…

 **Chapter Eight**. Dog Days of Summer.

Beth couldn't help but find her husband to be absolutely adorable. She knew her opinion was probably biased but she couldn't imagine that many arguing with her.

They sat on the bench outside the bus depot, Beth watching him as he chewed at the skin around his thumbnail and doing her best to not smile with amusement. She didn't know why he was so nervous and if she asked him about it, he would deny that he was even though it was as clear as day. The bus wasn't due until three o'clock that afternoon but Daryl had gotten them to the depot by two-thirty, just on the chance that the bus was running early.

Beth reached a hand out and rested it on her husband's thigh, giving him a small smile as he turned his head to look at her. Daryl let out a deep sigh as he sank back into the bench and gripped her hand. He stroked his thumb over her knuckles and she kept smiling, resting her head on his shoulder.

And when the bus arrived – three o'clock on the dot – Daryl instantly stood up and the bus's brakes squealed to a stop as Beth got to her feet, too. The bus doors opened and she was the first one off. The instant Daryl saw her, he broke into a smile, and she came running towards them both.

"Daryl!" Annie exclaimed as she jumped and practically threw herself against him.

Daryl smiled as he hugged his cousin, her feet dangling above the ground.

"That ride took _forever_!" Annie said once Daryl returned her to her feet and their hug broke apart. Annie then beamed and Beth laughed as Annie threw her arms around her in a hug. "It didn't feel that long when we drove down here in May."

"That's 'cause your dad drives twenty above the speed limit and the bus driver don't," Daryl said. "Which bag is yours?"

Annie hurried past him and snatched up the black duffel bag that the driver had pulled out from beneath the bus. Daryl took it from her and slung it over his shoulder. They began walking towards the pickup truck parked in the small lot.

"Other than how long it took, how was the trip?" Beth asked.

Annie shrugged. "'s fine. I'm just really glad to be here now. Grandma sent me with some of her biscuits to give to you," she told Daryl, who smiled a little as he tossed the duffle bag into the back bed of the truck. "And everyone wants to know if you're pregnant yet," she said, looking back to Beth.

Beth laughed slightly. "Not yet," she shook her head. "You know I'd call if I was."

Annie looked to Daryl once more. "What's takin' so long?" She almost demanded of him and Daryl didn't answer but his ears were noticeably redder as he unlocked the passenger door, letting Annie and then Beth climb in.

Annie pulled her bookbag from her back into her lap and as Daryl drove away from the bus depot, she pulled out a small plastic container, prying back the lid. She handed Daryl one of the homemade buttermilk biscuits and Daryl took it, not even trying to hide his excitement as he took a large bite from it. She then handed one to Beth and then kept one for herself before putting the container away once more.

"What's goin' on with the family?" Daryl asked once he had swallowed his first bite.

He used to not care about talking with a mouthful of food but then he married Beth and he supposed the girl was trying to make him more respectable or something. And chewing and swallowing before speaking and not resting his elbows were things that were becoming habit to him now. And having manners weren't that bad.

"Well," Annie took a deep breath. "Mandy's pregnant and dad's super pissed at her."

Mandy was Annie's second oldest sister – just barely sixteen. Daryl tried not to sigh as Annie's announcement settled over him and he swallowed down a rising bubble of disappointment. It wasn't him to have a reaction like that. He was just a cousin. He wasn't Bill, her dad, but if Bill needed to beat some kid up, Daryl would help.

"Who's the boy?" He asked.

"I think you met him. He was at the house for Easter. Brandon?" Annie asked.

Yeah, Daryl remembered him. The kid was dumber than a pinecone. He decided to just switch topics. Mandy was a pretty girl and her having a kid so young was almost too depressing to think about. Especially now that it was August and he and Beth still weren't pregnant themselves.

He knew it wasn't a big deal. They had only been married since May, for God's sake, and before they were married, Beth was on the pill. He knew these things took time. Maybe it just seemed like it was taking such a long time because they both wanted it so badly. But as Beth reminded him every time she got her period, it had only been three months and it didn't matter how many times they had sex. They would get pregnant when God decided for it to happen.

"Anythin' else?" Daryl asked.

"Aunt Cheryl got arrested 'cause she was drunk and slugged the hell out of Uncle Rusty and he called the cops and wanted to press charges. She gave him a black eye and everythin' and Roy's been teasin' him so bad 'bout givin' 'im self-defense lessons," Annie said with a giggle. "You know Uncle Rusty's been threatenin' for years to take her in to one of the abandoned mines and leave her there. Mama says they hate each other but they'll never get a divorce. They'll kill each other but they won't get a divorce." She paused and took a bite of her biscuit. "What else? Oh! Dairy Queen laid me off. They said now that it's nearin' the end of summer, they don't need as many people workin' anymore – especially the younger ones."

"I'm sorry," Beth spoke up. "I know you were excited about making your own money for the first time."

Annie shrugged as if it didn't bother her but Daryl could read her almost as well as he could read Beth and knew she was a little depressed about it.

"There'll be other jobs," Daryl offered though good jobs up where his family lived seemed to be few and far in between.

Annie shrugged again. "It's okay. I think if I had to see another Dilly Bar, I'd puke," she said and he smirked at that.

Daryl drove down the road leading through the woods and pulled to a stop in front of his and Beth's cabin. They got out and as Daryl went to get her duffel bag from the back bed, he watched as Annie stood and looked around. It wasn't her first time seeing their home but he remembered in May, her looking around like that then, too.

More than one family member had taken to asking him if he would ever move out of Georgia and head to Kentucky to live near the rest of his family and Daryl knew that if he had met them sooner and they had asked him even just a year ago, his answer probably would have been a different one.

But now, he had this cabin and he had a wife and Georgia was his home. And though he found Appalachia to be one the prettiest spots he had ever seen in all of his years, wandering around – he supposed that was in his blood – his little spot here, deep in the woods that he shared with Beth was his idea of heaven – if he got to thinking that heaven actually existed.

It was quiet out here. Just the birds chirping and the quiet gentle rush of the small creek behind their house. Daryl never cared for people and being away from them, waking up in a safe, warm house and hearing the quiet and thinking that no one else in the world existed, it was all he really ever wanted in this life. He couldn't leave it and he would never ask Beth to leave her family behind.

Beth had gone up the steps to unlock the front door and instantly, their Beagle, Moseley, came bounding up. First, he greeted Beth with paws up on her thighs and his tail wagging so quickly, it was just a blur, and then he spotted Annie. The dog ran so fast to her, he nearly seemed to trip over his legs on his way, and Annie laughed, bending down and bestowing love and affection on the beast.

"You take 'im huntin' yet?" Annie asked as Daryl walked past her towards the house. She stood up to follow and Moseley excitedly jumped all around her.

Daryl nodded. "Took 'im out a couple times now. He's good. Quiet and able to pick up the scent. Shot a couple rabbits and he's gone and fetched 'em and brought 'em back," he said and Annie smiled, patting Moseley at that as if quite proud of him.

Inside, he set the duffel bag in the corner of the living room. He was excited to be having Annie stay with them for the next few days. They wrote to one another often and in every one of her letters since May, she has asked him if she could come visit. Daryl and Beth, of course, had no problem with it but she had to talk to her parents about it and make sure that it was alright and, of course, Bill and Clementine had no problems with it either. Working at the Dairy Queen for the summer had helped her save money for a bus ticket and she was able to come a couple of weeks before the summer vacation ended and the new school year started up.

"I love your house," Annie said as she walked into the cabin.

It was small but it was perfect – the big room that was both the living room and kitchen and eating area and the small bathroom off to the side and up the stairs, the lofted bedroom. Everything was so clean and open and they didn't have to trip over their things or had to crawl over the other people living there.

And it smelled so good. Each house smelled like the people who lived there; every family having their own scent. Beth and Daryl's house smelled like a mixture of buttercream frosting and fresh pine trees. It didn't seem like the two would mix together but it blended together in a pleasant aroma that tickled Annie's nose.

"This couch pulls out and this is where you'll be sleeping," Beth said as she pulled down pillows and blankets from the closet. "I've washed some fresh sheets for you and neither of us have slept on this so you'll have to let us know if it's really uncomfortable."

"Can't be worse than the one you sleep on when you're visitin' us with the bar goin' straight 'cross your backs," Annie said.

The cabin was sticky. It didn't have air-conditioning but all of the windows were open and the slightest – muggy – breeze could float in through the screens and Daryl was pulling a fan out of the closet, too, setting it down on the floor next to the couch. Annie wondered if the summer heat would get a bit better once the sun went down.

"So, in a little bit, we're heading over to my dad's," Beth was saying as she placed the pillows and blankets on the couch. "There's a tradition in my family and every Saturday night, we go for pizza and Greene family movie night. It's kind of a big deal and you are very lucky that you are able to be here for it."

Annie beamed at that. She really liked Beth's family from when she met them in May for the wedding. Her brother, Shawn, and sister, Maggie, were both friendly and funny – the way the two bickered constantly with one another. And Glenn, her brother-in-law, was kind and funny in his own way. But she really couldn't wait to see Hershel again. The man reminded her of Santa Claus with his white hair and matching beard and he had no problem letting her ride any horse she wanted to.

And after going to the bathroom and having a tall glass of fresh lemonade that Beth had made earlier that day, they were all back in the truck, Moseley with them this time, and Daryl drove them towards the Greene farm. And once arriving, Hershel, Shawn and Maggie were already there and they all greeted Annie as if she was a part of the family and Annie guessed that in a very extended way, she was.

Annie didn't know that much about Daryl's family. The Dixons. She had heard her mama and some of the cousins and Grandma Anne talking though, eavesdropping on them when she knew she wasn't supposed to. She heard plenty of stories of Aunt Liv – Grandma's sister – and the man she had married – Chris Harper. They had had a daughter – Anne – and she had married a right bastard, according to Grandma Anne. Will Dixon had beat the hell out of his wife and kids and Annie had never seen Daryl's upper body but apparently, it was a mess of scars. Annie knew she didn't want to see it. She couldn't imagine anyone wanting to beat her cousin like that. Daryl was the coolest, nicest guy in the world and as she watched him with Beth and the rest of the Greene family, she was glad that he had this family so close by.

"What's your pick tonight, son?" Hershel asked, clapping a hand on Daryl's shoulder as they all walked into the house.

" _Night of the Walkin' Dead_ , the original," Daryl said and Beth pulled the DVD case from her bag slung across her chest.

"Oh, veto!" Maggie groaned.

"Excellent," Shawn grinned, taking the case from Beth and reading it over.

Glenn arrived a little later with two extra-large pizzas from the pizzeria he owned and Daryl pushed Annie towards them so she got the first slices.

"It's survival of the fittest with this family," he whispered in her ear and she giggled before helping herself to three large triangle slices. She was starving, hardly able to eat anything that day, too excited for her trip and to see Daryl and Beth.

Every Saturday Greene family movie night, they took turns picking which movie would be watched and everyone got to use one veto if they really hated the idea of watching it. Shawn told her that they only really used their vetoes when Maggie tried to get them to watch _Dirty Dancing_ and Maggie always vetoed Shawn's choices no matter what. "Because she's evil," Shawn explained.

And the only reason Maggie used her veto tonight on Daryl's choice was because she wasn't the biggest fan of zombie movies – which Daryl apparently seemed to pick more times than not when it was his turn.

They all settled in the family room with their pizza and drinks and the movie started, Maggie immediately practically crawling into Glenn, who didn't seem to mind the movie choice at all. Annie finished her three slices but she could feel as if she wanted a fourth but she didn't know if she could just get up and get another one. She didn't want to just help herself. No one else seemed to be getting seconds.

But then Daryl stood up and went into the kitchen and when he came back, he had three more slices on his plate. He sat down and without a word, he leaned forward to where Annie was sitting on the floor and he dropped one of the slices on her plate. The smile she gave him was wide and grateful and he gave her his own little smile in return before settling back beside Beth on the couch.

Daryl and Beth were worried that Annie would be bored the four days she was staying with them. They lived a quiet life and they didn't do anything exciting but Annie thought that just being there was pretty exciting. On Sunday morning, they went to church – the church where their wedding had been – and they then came back home where Beth made a breakfast of French toast and sausage links. Daryl then took Annie out to show her around the woods, Moseley tagging along. And although he wasn't planning on hunting, Daryl brought his crossbow anyway.

When they got back home, one of Beth's friends, Amy, was over and they were listening to music and she stayed for dinner. Annie listened to Amy complain about her job during the entire meal. She was a music teacher at a junior high and apparently, she didn't like it that much. Apparently, this school district started the school year earlier than Annie's.

"You had _such_ the right idea of dropping out of education, Beth," Amy said. "The constant administrative bullshit is enough to drive anyone to insanity! And the kids are just ridiculously horrible. They have absolutely no appreciation for anything. I actually had to walk out the other day before I slapped one of them."

"Maybe it will get better," Beth suggested. "They're probably just still hyper from summer vacation."

Amy shook her head though. "A demon is always a demon."

"I didn't know you were going to be a teacher," Annie said once Amy had left and Annie was helping Beth and Daryl clean up from dinner.

"I had planned on it but my senior year, I wound up dropping it and just focused on my music degree," Beth said. "I knew it wasn't the right thing for me to do."

"But you teach piano lessons, don't you?" Annie asked and she couldn't help but be a little confused by that.

Beth just smiled. "I think teaching students in my home one at a time is different than teaching thirty at a time all day. This way, I can focus on each one individually and teach them the way I want."

Annie thought that over for a moment. "Can you teach me?"

Beth's eyes lit up and her smile was instant. "Of course!"

Daryl went to work every day – leaving the house around six-thirty in the mornings and getting back around four-thirty in the evenings. During her days, Beth worked and wrote her own music. She also had twelve students and gave piano lessons four days a week. When Beth worked on her own music, Annie went into the woods with Moseley so she wouldn't bother Beth even though Beth told her that she wasn't bothering her at all. Annie would stick close to the house though so she could hear the songs Beth was writing. She thought it was so cool that Beth could write her own songs. Pretty much everything about Beth and Daryl was so cool to her.

On Tuesday morning, Hershel came to pick her up and bring her back to the farm so she could help with the horses and the other animals and Annie wondered if Beth had called her dad to help Annie spend her time doing something she would enjoy.

Annie then came back into the house in the early afternoon when Beth's first student arrived and she would sit on the couch, listening to each one play. Beth said that having Annie there was good practice for when they had their upcoming end of summer recital and had to play for everyone's parents. Annie was sorry she was going to miss that.

And in the evenings, she played Uno or checkers with Daryl and they would watch the evening news and he showed her the photo albums he had that had once belonged to his Grandma. She had seen pictures of Aunt Liv but she liked looking at the pictures of her and Uncle Chris together. When they were both young and had just gotten married, they had been such a handsome couple.

They kind of reminded her of Daryl and Beth. Daryl certainly looked like his grandpa. He was handsome and Beth was beautiful and in the few days that Annie had been there, she had seen Daryl look at Beth more than one time the way Uncle Chris looked at Aunt Liv in several of the pictures. Daryl looked at his wife as if his entire life began and ended with her. Her oldest sister, Natalie, loved romance novels and Annie had snuck in a couple to her room to read for herself. She now imagined Daryl to be like one of those heroes and Beth to be like one of the heroines from those books.

On Wednesday, her last day there, Annie woke up to the sound of Daryl coming down the stairs like he had for the past two weekday work mornings. Annie was used to waking up early anyway and as soon as she saw that Daryl was up, she pulled herself from the sofa bed.

"Hey," he grunted in his usual greeting in the morning. "Wanna come and pick up some doughnuts and coffee with me?"

Annie instantly perked up. "What 'bout work?" She asked.

"'s your last day here. I took today off to spend it with you," he shrugged as if it was all rather casual and obvious but they both knew it wasn't. Annie bounced on her toes and hugged him tightly and he smiled a little, patting her on the back.

Annie figured that because Georgia was much more south than Kentucky and they were closer to the equator, that's why the days felt as hot and humid as hell. She couldn't get used to it and she felt as if there was no reprieve because even at night, the heat was still like a thick blanket pressing down on her.

After going to get doughnuts from a coffee shop where Daryl was clearly a regular – the owner a man named T-Dog who knew how Daryl and Beth took their coffee and he gave Annie a free doughnut for coming all of the way from Kentucky to his shop – they returned home where Beth was just coming downstairs, dressed and ready for the day. She took the cup of coffee Daryl handed her with a relieved smile.

"My hero," she said and he smirked a little before Beth pushed herself on her toes and pressed a kiss to his lips.

And even though Daryl's ears tinged pink with Annie in the room, Annie didn't mind watching them kiss. In fact, she actually enjoyed watching them being affectionate with one another. They were so sweet and so happy together and Grandma was always saying that Daryl deserved happiness in his life like this after going through most of it without any.

Along with Moseley, they spent the day at the creek, swimming in the water. Annie didn't have a swimsuit so she borrowed a large tee-shirt of Daryl's to swim in along with her underwear. And even though the water felt good and refreshing, every time she pulled herself out, Annie felt the humidity and she felt disgusting again and she wished she could just live in this creek. There were creeks back home in Kentucky and she could go swimming anytime she wanted to when the weather allowed it.

And she loved Kentucky and she loved being home. She couldn't imagine living anywhere else. The only bad thing about it was that Beth and Daryl didn't live there, too. She wished they would come move up to be closer to them but she knew that that would never happen. This was their home and out here, their cabin in the woods, it was the best home Annie had ever seen. She didn't blame them for never wanting to leave.

But even though Annie knew she could visit them again whenever she wanted, she was still dreading getting on that bus tomorrow that would take her back home because she knew she probably wouldn't seem them again until Thanksgiving. And they were her two favorite people in her _whole_ family and her family was gigantic. And what about when they had a baby? She wouldn't even get to know him or her that well and that gave her such a sadness in her chest, she didn't even really understand it.

Annie almost wished she had never come to visit them because now, she had to leave again and practicing balancing herself on her back in the creek, listening to Beth as she laughed while Daryl playfully splashed her, she didn't know if she would actually be able to.

…

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 **Thank you very much for reading and please take a moment to review!  
**


	9. September

**I know everyone is kind of consumed with _Catch Me_ at the moment and I cannot thank you enough for that but I love this particular universe o, so much and there is only one chapter left in this story after this one. And since Beth and Daryl won't be getting together anytime soon in _Catch Me_ , I wanted to write some sweet Bethyl in the meantime. Please take a moment to review if you read. It would mean so much to me. Thank you!**

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…

 **Part Nine.** September.

"You think this is 'nough chairs?" Daryl asked, after unfolding the last of the twenty he had been able to borrow from the office.

"It should be more than enough," Beth answered, looking over what had once been their living room but over the course of the morning, had been turned into their very own little concert hall. "And if not, we still have the couch and kitchen chairs." She took a moment to look around the room. "Do you think it will be enough?"

Daryl shrugged. "You'd know better than me."

Beth began taking a silent headcount in her head, ticking off on her fingers. She had twelve students and they would be bringing their parents and her own daddy wanted to come to her first recital and hear her students. She had gone to the library to use their copy machine that cost ten cents a copy of that afternoon's program, printed on yellow paper that listed each student's name and the song or songs they would be playing. She had a stack of them prepared and waiting on the table next to the door. She and Daryl had also gone shopping at Aldi for food and drinks to serve.

She had spent the morning cleaning the cabin top to bottom – even cleaning their bedroom upstairs even though no one would be going up there. She didn't know why she was feeling so nervous. She wasn't the one having a piano recital today. And even if she was, she wouldn't be nervous because she had had many piano recitals in her life in which she had played and she had never been nervous over any of them. This was her first recital as a teacher and all of her students had parents who paid her money to teach their children piano and they expected them to be able to play. She could only hope that each student was able to get at least through one song. They had all been practicing long enough for this.

She was so deep in thought, worrying and fretting over every little thing, she didn't hear or sense Daryl until he was right behind her, his arms coming around her waist. She instantly sank back against his chest and she took a deep breath.

"It's silly to be worrying like this," she spoke what he was probably thinking.

"Mmmm," Daryl said and said nothing else and in Daryl Dixon language, she knew he was agreeing with her.

"It's just, ever since I dropped out of the education program in school, I've had no idea what else I've wanted to do," she tells him even though he knows all of this already. "I just want to show everyone – and show myself, too – that I didn't need an education degree and I actually made the right choice."

"You did," Daryl spoke, his voice low and rumbling in his chest. "You're happier doin' this than if you had done somethin' else."

Beth didn't disagree because it was the absolute truth. Her friend, Amy, would come over here and Beth would listen to Amy complaining about her classes and her job and her school and Beth couldn't help but always feel relief that that wasn't her, too. It may not have seemed that impressing to some – teaching piano lessons from her living room – but Daryl was right. She was happy and couldn't imagine not doing it.

And she had already made progress. She had started with five students and now, she already had twelve. She was gaining a little reputation in their town. If you wanted your child to learn piano, Beth Dixon was the woman you wanted teaching them.

She exhaled another soft breath. "I need to take a shower," she said though she made no mood to leave her husband's arms and as if Daryl could read her mind – and it would be absolutely no surprise to her if he actually could – he didn't move his arms from around her for another minute. "Thank you for today," she then said, turning her head and tilting it up so she could look at him behind her.

He smirked a little and shook his head. "You keep thankin' me. 's your house, too."

"I know," she smiled. "I just know that on the Saturday of your three day holiday weekend, you can't be that excited to have so many people in the house at once."

He shrugged and didn't argue with that. The whole point of him moving out to the woods was to get away from everyone. But he knew having Beth out here with him would change things a little bit. She liked the quiet and solitude as well but she also, on occasion, liked having people out here with them. It was Labor Day weekend and he had Monday off from work – the office closed – and he was looking forward to it just being him and Beth and their dog and the woods.

And that could start tomorrow.

He had plans for this weekend – and it mostly involved keeping Beth in bed.

Beth turned fully in his arms so she was facing him, their fronts pressed together, and she slipped her arms up around his shoulders. His own arms tightened around her waist and he was the one to lean down and be the first to kiss her. Beth happily pressed her own lips back against his and they stood there for a moment, just kissing, slowly and almost lazily, and Daryl got drunk of his wife's distinct taste.

He had never been one for kissing. It had actually been something he had always hated. Of course, he hated all of the things that put him too close to people and had usually only done them because Merle was there, egging him on and annoying the hell out of him and Daryl had done it to just shut him the hell up. If it was up to him, he would spend the rest of his life, never physically touching another person again.

But then, he met Beth and wasn't that the way it usually happened? A guy met a girl who was able to change his entire outlook on the world. With Beth, he didn't mind kissing or touching and with her, he began to actually crave those things. With Beth, he now couldn't imagine not doing those things. He fell in love with her and he married her and someday – hopefully soon – she would be the mother of his kid.

Beth's lips curved into a smile against his lips. "I really need to take a shower," she said and his lips slowly pulled away from hers but his arms remained around her.

"I gotta go out and refill the bird feeders," he said but her arms didn't leave his shoulders. Instead, she pushed herself up on her toes and kissed him once more.

"Let me know if you see two male blackbirds," she said and he smiled this time.

Daryl had all sorts of knowledge on birds and he knew all of the meanings and superstitions with them, too. If a person saw two male blackbirds perched next to each other, it meant good luck, and ever since Daryl had mentioned that – nothing more than a passing comment at the time – Beth had become somewhat obsessed with the idea and was always on the lookout for such a sight. They had four bird feeders around their house and Beth enjoyed watching all of the birds, feeling proud of herself for always being able to identify most of the birds by herself that Daryl had pointed out to her on previous times.

She loved every single thing about her husband but one of her favorite things was his love for birds.

They finally broke apart. Beth went into the bathroom and Daryl – and their Beagle, Moseley – headed outside.

The recital started at one and they still had plenty of time. Daryl figured it would last just a couple of hours and then they could clean up and then head to the Greene family farm for Saturday movie and pizza night. It was Maggie's turn this week and that usually meant one thing. Some romantic movie that was damn cheesy, he usually felt like his eyes were crossed as he and Beth finally left and went home again. _Dirty Dancing_ had been a terrible experience. They had all warned him about it and then he had witnessed it for himself. The movie hadn't been that great to begin with but then add in Maggie saying every line and trying to do every dance and crying at the end even though she knew exactly how it ended, he understood why the family always tried to veto it every time she tried to get them to watch it.

He wondered what torture Maggie had planned for them that evening.

He was never one to care about vacations or holiday weekends at work. He was never lazy and always doing something so in his mind, he would rather get paid for it. But since having Beth in his life, it was just something else that had been changed for him. He looked forward to three-day weekends or taking a random vacation day because that meant that he got to spend an extra day with her. Some of the guys in the office often complained about their wives. Some were just joking but others weren't. Always complaining about having to listen to them talk or having to spend extra time with them and Daryl couldn't figure out why they were even married to these women in the first place because shouldn't they actually like their wives if they were married to them?

Daryl loved spending his time with Beth and wasn't that how it should be?

Beth was just finishing putting on her black Mary Jane heels when she heard the first car pull up to the cabin. Ten minutes to one. She gave herself one more quick look in the mirror hanging over the dresser and she smoothed her hands down the skirt of the dark blue dress she was wearing before hurrying down the stairs.

Moseley was standing at the open door, barking at the visitors through the screen door, and Beth saw that it was the Grimes family. She smiled the instant she saw them and she went onto the porch to meet them. She loved all of her students but there was just something about little Judith Grimes. She was four, clumsy and adorable. She was eager about learning the piano and she was playing two songs that afternoon for the recital – one by herself and then another as a duet with Beth.

Silently to herself, Beth hoped that if she and Daryl had a daughter, she'd be like Judith. The little girl was just so happy and just seemed to be so in love with the world around her. Seeing Judith always made Beth smile.

Rick got out of the car, smiling at Beth, and then opened the back door, unbuckling Judith from her booster seat and the girl immediately came running excitedly towards her. She was wearing a pink tulle skirt, purple tights and a brown tee-shirt with SHERIFF in gold lettering written across the front of it. She was in the middle of her dressing herself stage and Beth almost laughed when she saw her.

"You look so beautiful today, Judith," Beth said and Judith beamed.

"Can I play now?" Judith asked eagerly.

"We have to wait for everyone else to get here but you are the first on the program to play," Beth smiled and that seemed to be good enough for Judith who just kept smiling and then dropped down to her knees to pet a just-as-eager Moseley.

Rick and Lori reached the house and she smiled at them both and she and Lori hugged one another for a quick moment. Beth wondered if it was obvious that she was so nervous about this afternoon and Lori was trying to calm her down a bit.

"Where's Daryl?" Rick asked.

"He's doing something in the back and he promised me he wouldn't get dirty," Beth said and Rick smiled, heading down the steps again.

"I'll check up on him for you," Rick said.

Beth looked back to Lori. "Would you like something to drink? I actually bought a bottle of wine for the parents today."

"God, yes," Lori sighed. "She was impossible to get to sleep last night. I swear, she's only this excited on Christmas Eve."

Beth smiled at that, her own nerves diminishing a little – finally. Even if this recital didn't go as well as she hoped, at least she knew that Judith was so excited for it.

The others began arriving shortly after and soon, all of the kids and their parents were there. Hershel had come, bringing her a small vase of flowers in congratulations on her first recital and Beth proudly displayed them on top of the piano, hugging him tight in thanks for them.

The programs had been distributed and all of the parents were in their seats, some with drinks – more than one having taken a glass of wine like Lori. The kids were sitting on the stairs, waiting their turn. Daryl and Hershel were both sitting on the couch, pushed to the back of the room, and Beth met Daryl's eyes, smiling at him, seeing his own lips twitch in his own little smile. She came to stand in front of all of the parents, placing herself beside the piano.

"I can't thank you all for coming here today. All of the kids have been practicing their hardest for this afternoon and I know they are eager to play for you," Beth smiled at all of them. "First up, we have Judith Grimes performing _Greenesleeves_ and then we will be performing _In the Hall of the Mountain King_ as a duet. Judith?"

Judith came skipping from the stairs and waved to her parents sitting in the front row as if she hasn't seen them in hours. Lori smiled and waved back and Rick grinned as he already had his phone pulled out, recording a video.

Judith sat down on the bench and Beth moved it in a little closer to the keys. She sat down in a chair beside the piano and watched as Judith opened up her sheet music but she didn't look at it, instead, looking at her fingers curved over the keys and she began. Judith always played too loud, banging the keys, the notes echoing in the somewhat cavernous large cabin room and she only missed a couple of the notes, stumbling for a second before she caught her place again.

And then for the next song, she happily scooted over so Beth could sit down beside her, Beth smiling down at her. She placed her fingers over the keys and Judith followed suit. She played the lowest keys so she could bang away and Beth's fingers were light as they flew over the higher of the lower keys, her part a bit more intricate.

And when they each played their last note and it faded away, the applause began and Judith scrambled off the bench so she could practice her curtsy for them. She then happily went skipping to her parents instead of back to the stairs.

One after another, she introduced the kids and they all played their selected song or songs and Beth played a couple of more duets. Poor Mika Samuels was so nervous, from her chair, Beth could see the girl's fingers tremble and she stumbled more times than not. Beth wished she could get the girl to calm down because Mika knew this music and was able to play each piece flawlessly during her lessons.

And as if all of the parents could sense her nerves and her being so upset with herself for screwing up, when she stood up to take a bow and tried to hide the tears in her eyes, Mika received one of the loudest applause of the afternoon and Beth pulled her into a tight sideways hug.

Patrick was the oldest of her students and was the last to perform and when he took his bow after playing his Mozart piece, all of the parents got to their feet to applaud all of the students once more. Beth clapped as well, beaming with pride. Her first piano recital as a teacher had gone as well as she could have hoped.

"Thank you so much for coming," Beth said once again after everyone had settled down once more. "And I would just like to thank all of the kids for doing an amazing job today and please know that I am so proud of you. If you are able to stay, please do so. We have refreshments and food for everyone and thank you once more."

There was more applause and people began standing up from their seats, most heading towards the kitchen area where the food had been put out on the counters and there was an old laundry tub filled with ice on the floor with cans of soda. A couple of the parents helped themselves to another glass of wine from the bottle on the counter. Beth remembered to buy two bottles of wine for the next recital.

Daryl and Herschel were standing now, still near the couch in the back of the room and Beth made her way towards them, everyone stopping her along the way to talk and tell her that it was a wonderful recital.

When she finally got to them, Daryl smiled a little when he saw her and he lifted his arm, wrapping it around her shoulders, pulling her into his side, and she let out a heavy breath as if she was finally able to breathe now.

"Everyone did so well, Bethy," Hershel smiled at her.

Beth smiled, too. "Thank you for coming, daddy."

"I would not miss my daughter's first piano recital as a teacher," he said and he had so much pride in his voice, Beth almost wanted to laugh.

She was just a piano teacher.

"I need to talk with Mika. I feel so terrible. She knows that music," Beth then said.

"Think I saw her headin' outside," Daryl said and she nodded.

He gave his arm a squeeze and kissed her head and Beth headed out the back door. Some of the kids were on the side bank of the creek that flowed right past the cabin, trying to catch sight of the fat bullfrog that lived amongst the grass and the rocks. Beth spotted Mika standing a bit away from everyone else, looking at the vegetable garden that Beth and Daryl had planted that spring and had toiled in all summer.

"Hey," Beth said in a gentle voice as she approached.

Mika looked at her. "I think I'm going to quit," she said and Beth wasn't surprised.

"If that's what you want to do…" Beth said because she couldn't tell the girl what to do. "I think that would be a very big mistake though."

"Lizzie played perfectly. She didn't make a single mistake," Mika frowned up at her.

Beth wished she could tell Mika that she understand perfectly how she felt right now. She thought it was something that just happened with having a big sister. Beth had many instances in her childhood where she was jealous of Maggie and wished she could be just like her. It took her a long time to realize that she and Maggie couldn't be compared because they were two completely different people.

And maybe she would tell Mika all of that someday.

"She did play perfectly," Beth didn't see the need to deny that when Mika had already said it. "But there's a very big difference between you and your sister."

Mika didn't say anything; just looked up at her, waiting for her to continue.

"When Lizzie plays, she's just playing notes that she memorized. I try to get her to sink into it, to make it flow, but she just can't seem to do that," Beth said and hoped that Mika would be able to understand because Beth didn't know how else to explain it. "When you play, you actually make it sound the way it should. You make it sound like music."

Mika was quiet for a moment, obviously thinking that over.

"I think," Beth dared herself to continue. "I think that if you stick with it, I can really help you become an amazing piano player."

Mika was still quiet for another moment. "What about how nervous I got in there?"

"We'll think of something and we'll practice getting you through it," Beth smiled.

Mika sighed softly and with that, Beth knew that Mika wasn't going to quit anytime soon. Beth smiled a little and pulled the girl into a hug.

Yes, it had been a perfect first recital.

…

Daryl would be more than happy if he went through the rest of his life without watching _The Notebook_ ever again. Maggie and Beth had both been crying like babies at the end of it and even Glenn's eyes had looked damp as the credits rolled.

Once arriving back home, after confirming their plans for a Labor Day barbecue at Maggie and Glenn's house on Monday, they let Moseley roam around the yard for a few minutes before going inside, locking the doors and turning off lights. They had already cleaned up from the piano recital and had nothing else to do except go upstairs and get themselves ready for bed.

Upstairs, he sat on the bed and took of his boots and then sat there, watching as Beth stood at the dresser, pulling the pins out that held a few locks of hair back from her face. He liked watching her. She always thought she was so clumsy but in actuality, she always reminded him of a doe. She moved gracefully and with purpose and if she hadn't been a musician, he was certain that she could have been a dancer.

"You're staring," Beth said with a smile in her voice and she always told him that whenever she could feel his eyes on her – which was often.

She turned away from the dresser towards him and smiled.

Daryl didn't say anything – just kept looking at her. She was the best thing in this whole damn world to look at and sometimes, when he looked at her, he still couldn't quite believe that he had any sort of right to look at her for even a second. Seeing her and meeting her and suddenly having her in his life when he _never_ expecting anything like her was the best thing to ever happen to him. He would never be able to deny that simple fact – not that he would ever look to deny it.

"You're gonna make a real good mom," he said, his eyes never leaving her.

Beth's face melted into a smile. "You think so?" She asked and Daryl almost wanted to smirk because how the hell could she not know that already?

"Best damn mom in the world," he said and she kept smiling as she crossed the space and came to stand in front of him, in between his spread knees. He tilted his head up towards her and his hands slid up, grasping her hips.

Beth's smile was soft and she almost looked serene in the low lighting of their bedroom and she lifted a hand, brushing too long hair from off his forehead.

"I really want a baby," she then said in a whisper as if it was some big secret.

Daryl nodded. "Was thinkin' that's all we could do tomorrow and Monday 'fore we have to go to your sister's."

She just smiled at that and gave her head a nod. "We just have to keep trying."

He nodded again and ignored the lump in his throat. It had only been four months. There was no reason to worry. It would happen when it was meant to happen. That's what Beth said and there was no reason not to think that it wasn't true. He didn't really believe in God. At least, he didn't think he did. But he had married a girl who did and who's family did and his family up in Kentucky were god-fearing people, too. Maybe he didn't necessarily believe in God but there was definitely something – some kind of a higher power – that had a hand in all of this. Whenever it was decided that he and Beth were going to have a baby, that's when it would happen and not a second sooner.

He just really wanted a baby, too. He wanted to be a dad. He wanted to see Beth's belly grow. He wanted to be able to take their baby up to Kentucky and have his Aunt Anne meet him or her. She was getting so old and Daryl wanted her to see his kid at least one time in whatever was left of her life.

He gently tugged on Beth until she moved closer, sliding her knees up onto the bed on either side of his hips and settling herself down in her lap. Her arms slid around his neck and she was still wearing the dress from the recital earlier and his hands slid up her thighs, pushing the fabric up around her waist.

"And what are we going to do tonight?" She asked him with a light tease in her tone and a sparkle in her eyes. "You have tomorrow and Monday all planned out. Does that mean we're not going to make a go of it tonight?"

His only response was flipping her over suddenly onto her back on the bed and her only response was her cry of surprise and then her laughter as he settled himself down on top of her and he dropped his mouth to hers.

…

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 **Thank you so much for reading and please review!**


	10. Thanksgiving Once Again

**A short final chapter. Thank you very much to everyone who read this short follow-up to _Fight to Win_. This is one of my favorite versions of Daryl and Beth that I have written. **

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…

 **Part Ten.** Thanksgiving Once Again.

Karen wasn't in yet so when the bell above the door tinkled out at six-thirty on the morning before Thanksgiving, T-Dog left the kitchen where he was dipping the fresh yeast doughnuts into the pot of glaze and wasn't surprised to see Daryl standing at the counter, looking over the doughnuts he had already put out that morning.

"Hey, Dixon," T greeted his regular with a grin, already grabbing a box. "How many this morning for you?"

"Four," Daryl answered. "Headin' up to Kentucky for the weekend and need somethin' to eat on the drive."

T-Dog nodded and opening the white box, he waited for Daryl to make his selection.

Through the large front glass-pane window, he could see Beth in the waiting truck, turned in her seat, seeing to the baby in the car seat in the back. The sight made him smile. For a university town, they were still a small town and all of the locals pretty much knew everyone and they were all happy for Daryl and Beth when they had their little baby. T-Dog figures that nearly everyone in town has either come up to the couple at church or visited them at their cabin to congratulate them and to see the little one. And Dixon was known to be a bit of a recluse but he didn't seem to mind all of the visitors or the attention now on him and his wife. In fact, the man seemed pretty damn happy to show off his baby.

"One strawberry frosted and a maple frosted and two chocolate," Daryl answered, reaching into his wallet for some bills. "And two coffees," he then added. T-Dog got the doughnuts and handed Daryl the box before filling two of the paper cups with coffee, snapping the lids on and putting them in a cup carrier.

"Gonna be visiting your family all weekend?" T-Dog asked as he rang up the order.

Daryl nodded. "Headin' up there today and stayin' until Saturday. Not everyone's seen the baby yet so they're real excited for us to get up there."

T-Dog nodded and took Daryl's money and handed him change. "You drive safe and have a good Thanksgiving."

"You, too, man," Daryl gave him a head nod. "Thanks."

T-Dog smiled as Daryl left his doughnut shop and went back into the truck. Beth turned her head and looked into the window through the truck's windshield and seeing him, she smiled widely and waved at him, T-Dog returning it with a grin.

Daryl held one of the chocolate doughnuts in his mouth as he reversed out of the parking spot and headed back onto the road. He then took a bite and sat up a bit so he could look at the baby in the backseat through the rearview mirror. She was quiet, her wide blue eyes blinking silently, sucking on the pacifier in her mouth. He had called Clementine last night to ask her how the weather was and there was already a dusting of snow on the ground so Beth made sure that the baby was bundled because while it got cold in Georgia, it didn't get cold like in the mountains.

The baby was three months old and this was the first time they were traveling with her so Daryl admitted that he was a little nervous about it. He had made this drive up to Clay County plenty of times now and it was no big deal but he still couldn't help but drive a little more cautiously now – going just the speed limit instead of ten or even twenty above. Too much precious cargo in this truck.

Last November, when they had gone up for Thanksgiving as was their tradition now, Beth was about two months pregnant and when she told the family at the table over dinner, they all started cheering and crying and hugging both him and Beth. Aunt Anne was up there in years and was slowing down and getting tired but she hugged Daryl and told him that she'd be sure to hang on a little longer.

And she did. Daryl couldn't wait to get up there and see his Great Aunt meet his baby. He really just wanted her to hold his daughter because he didn't have his Grandma Liv anymore but he had his Aunt Anne and she had to meet his daughter.

They had a daughter and it was no question as to what they would name her. Olive Annette Dixon and it was the best damn name he had ever heard. Sometimes, he'd call her his lil' Sparrow and she was already smiling at that from around her pacifier whenever he held her and murmured the nickname to her in a gentle voice.

Beth was quiet, eating her strawberry doughnut and sipping on her coffee, turning occasionally to check on Liv. They were bringing Moseley with them for the holiday weekend, too, and the Beagle was curled up on the seat beside Liv, fast asleep. Since the baby's arrival, the dog has both been very curious and very protective of her. Beth imagined that he would never leave Liv's side this weekend.

She couldn't help but smile faintly every time she turned and looked at her daughter and she knew it was a common thought for practically every other mother to have but Beth was pretty certain that she and Daryl had made the most perfect baby ever.

They had both wanted a baby more than anything and when Beth was late and took the test, seeing that pink plus sign in the strip's little window, she had burst into tears and it was one of the happiest moments of her life. She would always remember it because it wasn't as if she and Daryl had been trying for ages to get pregnant. They had only been married since May and had been trying since then so it had only been a few months but having a baby was something both wanted so badly and it felt as if an eternity passed since they began.

She had always wanted to be a mother and she loved Daryl more than anyone and she, of course, couldn't imagine having a baby with anyone else except him. And Daryl wanted a baby to show to himself – and everyone – that Dixons could be good parents and give their kids a good life. And he also wanted to chase away the final lingering nightmares of his own childhood by having a baby of his own.

And Beth loved watching Daryl with Liv. He was so good with her. The baby always seemed to have a smile for her daddy when he came home from work and he instantly wanted to pick her up and hug her close and not want to put her down.

Beth finished her strawberry doughnut and then handed Daryl the second chocolate one as she then picked up the maple frosted for herself. She spun the dial on the old truck radio and settled on a song she knew and liked and began humming along.

When Liv had been born, some of Daryl's family had been able to make the trip from Kentucky down to Georgia to see her but Aunt Anne had been unable to come and Beth knew Daryl was anxious for the old woman to see their baby – at least once. Beth didn't even want to imagine how it would be once she passed on from this world but it seemed as if it was going to happen sooner rather than later. Every time Beth saw the woman, she forgot just how old Aunt Anne actually was but she was already in her nineties and she had said more than once that she was just getting tired. It was important for Beth, too, for the woman to see baby Liv. She had been named after Daryl's grandmother – the sister Anne had been closest to – and when they had told her the baby's name over the phone, they could hear her crying.

Family had always been so important to Beth and the Greenes and to the Sparrows in Kentucky and now, Daryl very much thought the same thing. Baby Liv was going to have so much family and they were all going to love her. They already did.

Beth turned her head and looked at her husband as he drove. She couldn't imagine her life without him. She never wanted that thought of a life without him to ever cross her mind. Despite getting married and having a baby already, she knew that they actually hadn't known one another than long. They had been officially together for just a couple of months before Daryl proposed and then they got married and got pregnant and it hadn't been that long at all but Beth could hardly remember her life before Daryl Dixon punched her ex-boyfriend in that doughnut shop.

"I think for our next baby, if we have a boy, we should name him Chris," Beth suggested suddenly, watching Daryl for his reaction.

And Daryl sipped his coffee and she could see him smiling around the rim of the cup. He looked at her for only a moment and she smiled before he moved his eyes back to the road. He put the coffee down in the cup holder and then with one hand around the wheel, he reached his other across the seat and grasped her thigh. Beth smiled and covered his hand with hers, sipping at her own coffee. She then turned to look at baby Liv before turning forward in her seat once more. She began humming again but it was no longer to the song on the radio.

And then she began to sing.

" _Twas in the merry month of May,_

 _When green buds all were swelling._

 _Sweet William on his death-bed lay,_

 _For the love of Barbara Allen…"_

 _…_

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 **The End.  
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 **Thank you very much for reading and please comment!**


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